European Communities (Finance) Bill

I do apologise. The right hon. Gentleman made, as always, an eloquent speech, but one that was economical with the facts. He said that there would be an additional £70 billion cost to the UK in this budget period, and the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) made the same error. That is not the case. The numbers that the right hon. Gentleman mentioned are the total gross costs—our total contribution—and they do not account for budget receipts, and they certainly are not the additional costs of this agreement. The right hon. Gentleman tried to imply that the cost would be double the actual figure. The hon. Member for Wellingborough also said that UK trade with the EU has declined from 35 per cent. to 25 per cent. No, 55 per cent. of British trade is now with the EU.