Brits are forking out £675million to help Turks join EU… even while Cameron insists they won’t
Turkey was handed £2billion between 2007 and 2013 at today’s exchange rates
BRITAIN is forking out £675million of taxpayers’ cash to help Turkey join the European Union, The Sun can reveal.
That is enough to build two hospitals or pay about 2,600 nurses for a decade.
The massive sum is our share of Brussels cash thrown at President Recep Erdogan’s Ankara government to prepare it for membership.
It comes despite David Cameron desperately claiming that Turkey joining is “not remotely on the cards”.
Our revelation sparked a new row in the In-Out referendum campaign.
Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said: “The truth is that Turkey is joining the EU. Angela
Merkel’s Germany might be happy to hand over vast sums to help it do so, but I don’t think British taxpayers are. The only way to end this is to leave the EU.”
Turkey is one of five countries in line to join up, but is at the heart of the referendum debate amid fears its 75million population would pile huge new immigration pressures on the UK.
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The PM called the issue a “red herring” and Chancellor George Osborne last night said Britain would veto membership if the issue arose today.
All candidate countries benefit from a generous EU fund called the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance.
We found Turkey was handed £2billion between 2007 and 2013 under the programme at today’s exchange rates — and the EU has set aside an extra £3.4billion for between 2014 and 2020.
Because the UK funds about 12.5 per cent of the EU budget, it means we are on the hook for around £675million.
A Government spokesman defended the spending, saying: “Some of the EU’s budget is spent on programmes which deliver reform and build stability as it is in the interests of Britain to have stronger, more prosperous neighbours.”
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