Statement form European Election candidate Jim Allister:-
“Two realities bring Colum Eastwood’s exaggerated claim of £500m pa from the EU to Northern Ireland up short:
1. It’s all our own money in the first place, which is recycled from Brussels after the U.K. pays it in as one of its top bankrollers. It does not even equate to NI’s pro rata share of the U.K. contribution. (3% of £20B = £600M)
2. It is as nothing compared to the U.K. contribution to this part of the United Kingdom, yet Mr Eastwood’s primary policy is to end the British link and thereby stop the block grant. Good luck then Mr Eastwood in surviving on what you think is Brussels’ £500M!
“So, if Colum Eastwood thinks recycling a modest pot of our own money is preferable to the largesse of the U.K., then, he’s even less grounded than I thought.”