Each bank holiday costs the UK economy £2.3bn and scrapping them would boost annual output by £19bn, economists say

Bank holidays 'cost economy £19bn' says economic group

Annual Costs of EU Membership
The net cost of the EU budget to Britain is £28 billion pa*. But the actual cost - direct and indirect - is much more than that.

Last time it was calculated, in 2008, the European Union was costing us £65 billion gross every year. That's about £1,000 each every year for every man, woman and child in the UK. It increases every year, so it will be a lot more now.

* Source: Office for National Statistics "Pink Book"

Direct and Indirect Costs of the EU
Estimates of the true cost of the EU are difficult to come by. MPs have called many times for a cost-benefit analysis, to prove or disprove the benefits of membership. Successive Governments, both Labour and Conservative, have refused, on the grounds that the "benefits" are self-evident. In truth they are afraid of what such a study would show. The Bruges Group finally produced an authoritative study in 2008.

(http://www.brugesgroup.com/CostOfTheEU2008.pdf)

The total gross cost to the UK of EU membership in 2008 they estimate at around £65,000,000,000* - including:

£28 billion for business to comply with EU regulations,

£17 billion of additional food costs resulting from the Common Agricultural Policy

£3.3 billion - the value of the catch lost when the Common Fisheries Policy let other countries fish in our territorial waters

£14.6 billion gross paid into the EU budget and other EU funds.

The Treasury has agreed to a European Union scheme to assist with funding for a number of forests to compensate for the country’s contribution to global warming.
The Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB) has lent China £210million to start the project.
Britain has agreed to underwrite the loan, covering 16p in every pound of the debt that is not paid back – which could cost more than £30million.
China is now the second largest economy in the world and continues to expand by two per cent a year. India and Brazil are among other countries with surging economies to receive similar EU anti-climate change loans in the past 12 months.
Since last year, the deals have seen the British taxpayer take on an additional £920million of liabilities.