Taxation

A Cost Too Far
Robert Oulds 

David Cameron like too many of his predecessors talks tough at home but chooses to comply with the EU when abroad. The Prime Minister stated, as his first failed pledge, that he would block any increase in contributions to the EU. Second, when faced with a proposed increase of nearly 6% - which equates to the UK having to pay an extra £900 million to the EU in the forthcoming year – David Cameron claimed that he had thus secured a fantastic British victory in Brussels by limiting any increase in the EU’s budget to merely 2.9%. And to wrap up these triumphs, the Prime Minister further claimed to have won an agreement to limit future budgets by making them reflect the austerity measures being taken by governments across the EU. But then the small print emerged, and we see that he achieved nothing of the sort

Taxpayers to lose £9.7 billion

British taxpayers will lose at least £9.7 billion due to rulings by the European Court of Justice. These tax blows to the nation’s finances, coming at a time when the Government is struggling with our huge national debt, could have been prevented. However, Ken Clarke and his successor, Gordon Brown, as Chancellor failed to act on advice to amend EU tax rules. Now the only option to protect British tax law from EU interference is for the UK to regain its freedom

How much does the European Union cost Britain? 2008
Gerard Batten MEP 

The price of the combined direct and indirect expenses of EU membership in 2008 costs Britain £55.775 billion. Set out in the latest Bruges Group research by UKIP MEP Gerard Batten, the full financial burden to Britain has now been calculated. They show a dramatic increase in the costs of the EU - A price Britain cannot afford

Costly, Complex and Counterproductive: The Case Against a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base
Damon Lambert 

How proposed changes to corporation tax will damage the UK economy by reducing GDP by £73 billion and cutting investment by £58.4 billion over 10 years

How much does the European Union cost Britain? 2007
Gerard Batten MEP 

Gordon Brown's Government is handing-over billions of pounds of taxpayers' money to the EU. The combined direct and indirect costs of EU membership will cost Britain this year over £114,000 per minute. As a result of the Government's surrendering of the UK's rebate, and the mounting costs of pointless EU regulation, this figure is set to rise even further

How much does the European Union cost Britain? 2006
Gerard Batten MEP 

By 2007 the combined direct and indirect costs of EU membership will cost Britain close to £100,000 per minute. If the Government believes that membership of the EU is beneficial to Britain and that we should remain a member, then let it commission an independent and impartial cost/benefit analysis so that the supposed benefits can be proved and the findings openly debated

Bruges Group Conference
Christopher Booker 
Barry Legg 
 John Midgley   

Developing policies for a post-EU Britain

Another Hole in British Tax Sovereignty

On Thursday, 6th April 2006 the Advocate General issued an opinion today, which if followed by the European Court of Justice, will poke another hole in British tax sovereignty. It will mean that dividends paid from EU companies to the UK should be exempt from tax, rather than taxed as they currently are under UK law

The Marks and Spencer Case: EU forces changes to British tax law
Robert Oulds 

Today the ECJ ruled on British tax law. The long awaited judgement from the unaccountable ECJ could cost the British taxpayer billions of Pounds. The fact that the EU has overturned UK tax law shows that Blair’s famous red-line, which he claimed he secured when the EU Constitution was being drafted, was in fact a red-herring. British governments had already surrendered the UK’s right to determine about 20% of this country’s taxation. The decision today shows that the EU has usurped the right to make UK tax laws. The ECJ has struck-out well-established UK rules in pursuing the Brussels goal of tax harmonisation. This will cause uncertainty for business and government funding. The government has known about this risk since at least 1999, and should now act to bring back control of the UK’s tax affairs

Conference: Integration marching on
Christopher Booker 
Ruth Lea 
Professor Kenneth Minogue 

As the EU project continues it is time to think outside the box and explore the alternatives to the EU

Fringe Meeting: The Conservative Party, Where Next?
The Rt Hon. John Redwood MP 

The Rt Hon. John Redwood MP and Steve Richards, Chief Political Commentator of The Independent, debated which direction the Conservative Party should take and its future

Marks & Spencer and tax harmonisation - The Advocate General's Opinion
Damon Lambert 

This article seeks to critically analyse the decision of the European Union’s Advocate General whose opinion regarding the Marks & Spencer case may create a single EU-wide corporation tax adding to business costs

Time for a new tax agenda
Damon Lambert 

Tax expert Damon Lambert warns of the European Union's high and anti-competitive tax policies. The time has come to free Britain from EU control to allow a new tax agenda that will create wealth and jobs

Will the EU's Constitution Rescue its Currency?
Professor Tim Congdon 

The euro is failing and will fail without the back-up of political integration including harmonised taxation and a centrally managed EU-wide fiscal policy. These measures will be the inevitable consequence of the euro and the EU Constitution. Despite the claims made by our Government the EU Constitution, if ratified, will lead to EU-wide tax control and the enforcement of damaging outmoded economic policies responsible for the high unemployment on the continent.

Wednesday, 5th May 2004
Jeffrey Donaldson MP 
Carl Mortishead 

Carl Mortished, International Business Editor of the Times, 'Tax harmonisation and EU Competition policy'. And Jeffrey Donaldson MP, 'The European Union - an Unionist/Ulster perspective', address the Bruges Group

Lines, Herrings and Missed Opportunities
Robert Oulds 

The Prime Minister's claims about the EU Constitution are merely a smokescreen designed to hide the true economic implications of the EU Constitution. In reality it is a threat to jobs and democracy

Stealth Taxation - The ECJ way
Damon Lambert 

Damon Lambert a tax expert at KPMG discusses how the European Court of Justice is standardising taxation in the European Union

Time for the Truth: EMU and Tax Harmonisation
Jonathan Collett 

The devastating consequences of Euro membership on Britain's independent fiscal policy

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Eat the Pound: Online Game

Published Papers


Knife Edge: Montgomery and the Battle of the Bulge


Saying 'No' to the Single Market


Montgomery and the First War on Terror


UK’s risks and exposure to the EU


German Economic Policy and the Euro


A Lesson in Democracy


A Crisis of Trust


The City of London Under Threat


Cool Thinking on Climate Change


Are the British a Servile People?


The Costs of Regulation


The Principles of British Foreign Policy


Lost Illusions: British Foreign Policy


The Case for EFTA


Plan B For Europe


Will the EU's Constitution Rescue its Currency?


Galileo: The Military and Political Dimensions


The Fate of Britain's National Interest


Health and the Nation


Criminal Justice and the draft Constitution


Subsidiarity and the Illusion of Democratic Control


A Constitution to destroy Europe


Giscard d'Estaing's "Constitution": muddle and danger presented in absurd prolixity


Free Speech: The EU Version


Federalist Thought Control


Democracy In Crisis


European Union and the Politics of Culture


Britain and Europe: The Culture of Deceit


The Bank that rules Europe?


Conservative MEPs and the EPP: Time for Divorce


Bruges Revisited


Aiming for the Heart of Europe: A Misguided Venture


Is Europe Ready for EMU?


A Single European Currency: Why the United Kingdom must say 'No'


From Single Market to Single Currency