Cuts in context

Daniel Hannan writes:

The media in general, and the BBC in particular, became very excited about Saturday’s TUC-sponsored march in London. Yet, even if we count all the government’s savings together, we are talking only of £6.2 billion

Now consider

the [£3.9 billion] leap in our net contribution to the Brussels budget, from £5.3 billion in 2009 to £9.2 billion in 2010. Our gross contribution, which is in many ways the more relevant figure, is £16 billion.

That's just our usual contribution. Bailouts of Eurozone countries like Ireland and Portugal could cost us billions more.

It's hard to see why, at least as a first step, we shouldn't withdraw from the EU, but remain members of the EFTA (along with Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland). Let the others have "ever closer union", if that's what they want. We're better off out.