I was appalled to learn that Britain is being asked to pay vast sums of money, to the tune of £56 billion, as a consequence of its exit from the EU. The MEPs say “UK must pay” and voted in favour of taking a tough line on Brexit negotiations.
On the contrary, I would have thought that the British negotiators should try and clawback the billions of pounds which we have contributed towards the running of the EU since 1974, and in bailing out its sick partners like Greece and Spain during this period. Make it tough for the EU negotiators and ask for refund of UK’s investments in the EU projects and loans we have given to the EU.
Without getting into the intricacies of the process and the exact amounts involved, as laymen, we want to see if our negotiators can clawback the vast amounts of funds we were made to contribute towards the running of the EU or towards subsidising other member countries.
The monies thus reverted back to us could be put towards the much needed funds to help our ailing NHS and other infrastructures. If EU bosses fail to agree to our counter demands, we must adopt the carrot and stick approach and threaten to remove all EU nationals from our shores without giving them much choice. If our negotiators are taking a soft approach, us Indians, with our financial acumen, could be better placed to get more favourable deals.
Dinesh Sheth
Newbury Park, Ilford
