Chart: Brexit Costs Nearly Match UK's Total EU Contributions

https://www.statista.com/chart/20544/forecast-cost-of-brexit-compared-to-the-uks-eu-budget-contributions/

by laktak • 7 years ago

34 35 7 years ago

frereubu4• 7 years ago

Remember that the UK's contributions weren't just going into a black hole, so this isn't a zero-sum game. The UK also received an enormous amount back for those contributions despite being a net contributor, such as EU project funding in deprived areas, access to the single market, a strong position in global trade deals as part of the EU negotiating team and so on. The sums are much, much worse if you take that into account.

uncle_j7• 7 years ago

What people keep on forgetting is that Leaving the EU was never about money. Micheal Caine said it best "I'd rather be a poor master than a rich slave".

arethuza• 7 years ago

£350 million a week for the NHS?

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/10/the-350m-line-on-the-b...

frereubu4• 7 years ago

I agree, and I've said that elsewhere in the comments. Thing is, this is going to come back and bite many of the people who think they're voting for more freedom. Poverty doesn't make you free.

CaptainZapp2• 7 years ago

Well, then what about that

350 Million£ a week for the NHS bus the Brexiters were so proud of displaying?

If that's not about money I'm not sure what is.

stunt• 7 years ago

But British had so much influence and power on EU and outside EU by being a member.

wastedhours4• 7 years ago

The narrative I've seen from the people I know who supported it is basically split 50/50 between not wanting to take orders from Brussels (even if we were at the table, making those rules) and just straight-up xenophobia.

I think the common thing about Brexit is that voting to leave is quite likely not based in any actual reason, but is a purely emotional reaction.

An emotional reaction that's certainly already screwed up my own future plans, so take that as my bias for remain.

cafxx3• 7 years ago

"The problem with a revolt against imaginary oppression is that you end up with imaginary freedom." -- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/17/nul-po...

So I agree with you, it was never about money.

me_me_me• 7 years ago

True, but also if you ask those people what 'EU' laws they want to revert after Brexit, all you will hear back is 'Its matter of principles and not exact examples'.

CaptainZapp2• 7 years ago

Yep, and now those deprived areas, which mostly voted for Brexit are yelling and screaming that London should cover what they lose in EU contributions.

Best of luck with that one.

inciampati• 7 years ago

They were literally raking up some of the most valuable return contributions, specifically those in research. From the perspective of science and high tech investment, there could be no worse long term move than Brexit.

frereubu4• 7 years ago

I have quite a few friends doing scientific research in the UK, many of them highly regarded in their fields, who were already being dropped from EU-funded projects more than a year ago. Research in the UK is going to become a real shitshow over the next few years.

waisbrot• 7 years ago

Calling this a "chart" is a bit of a stretch. Several sentences and a picture of two flags.

CHsurfer• 7 years ago

I came away with a very negative reaction to this infographic. I mean visually, not the data. Some how I come away feeling very underwhelmed. The embedded flags, which are at the same height, draw my eye and make it harder to gauge the relative heights of the bars. Also, there is too little white space between the subheading and the graphic. Same for the footnote. I'm far from a competent graphic designer, but I think Statista could have done better with this one.

samwillis• 7 years ago

There are already comments on this post about leave voting people having no brain or being stupid. This is exactly the kind of rhetoric that only makes the situation worse! Let’s not forget that over half the country voted for it, calling these voters stupid only makes the divisions in what has become a divided country worse.

We have to except the decision has been made and move forward. Continuing to argue about who was right and wrong only holds us back, and I say that as a passionate remain voter. Let’s make the best of the new direction the country has taken!

wastedhours4• 7 years ago

I hold the Remain campaign in as much contempt as the Leave one personally. You don't get anywhere by complacent insults, and what did we get - people rebelled against complacency and being insulted. In record numbers.

"Making the best of it" though is a bitter-sweet pill. There are a lot of futures that have been made much more difficult/impossible. You can't "make the most" of something you're no longer allowed to do. Humans don't tend to like regression to a shittier state, that's one of the reasons climate change is such a tough nut to crack too.

Piskvorrr2• 7 years ago

I take this as a proof that it is an immense Monty Python sketch.

"Let's not bicker and argue about who killed whom: this is supposed to be a happy celebration!" ;)

wastedhours4• 7 years ago

Brexit isn't about economics, macro-economics rarely has an influence at the individual level. It's the story that wraps around the numbers and emotion that's important.

That's why Leave won. Not about net contributions, billions for science experiments most people don't understand. It won on the back of "money for more nurses to take care of your nan", "control of our borders to stop illegals taking your mate Dan's job".

So for an anecdote: if the UK pulls out of the EU data-roaming regulations, I'd have spent more on mobile data in just one holiday last year than my yearly total EU contribution from my tax (and that's with a very fair operator travel plan).

Chart: Brexit Costs Nearly Match UK's Total EU Contributions

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