Poorer regions of the UK could be helped better if not in EU

Date published: 30 January 2012

The release of an Open Europe report on European Regional funding highlights how much the more deprived areas of Britain could be helped, but only if we were not in the EU, said Bury MEP Paul Nuttall.

"According to the report, £4.2 billion could be saved if Britain took back control of regional development funding. But as the Labour Government discovered, and the Tory government haven't bothered to find out, that just is not possible.

"The UK will never get the support of enough other countries to allow this to happen. Too many of them have their mouths attached to the teat of Brussels subsidy to ever support the proposal.

"If we were to leave the EU we could not only save the money so it could be either given back to the taxpayers, or spent in those regions that need it, but we could also have control over how it is spent, and on what.

"Labour may talk the talk on regional funding, and the Tories make grand statements about defending our interests in Brussels, but by only leaving the EU can any of this be achieved," said Mr Nuttall, UKIP deputy leader.