A conservative MP believes it is unfair that part of the money Britain pays into the EU goes to Iceland, and would like Britain to cease these payments, in lieu of money still owed in the Icesave matter.
Although Landsbanki has already begun paying back money owed over Icesave – with its first payment to the UK amounting to 266 billion ISK (about 1.3 billion GBP) – this news has apparently yet to reach Tory MP Philip Davies.
The Daily Mail reports that Iceland receives part of an EU fund, EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession, which pays out some 800 million GBP each year for infrastructure projects within countries wanting to join the EU. Britain’s contribution to the fund is 125 million GBP.
Tory MP Philip Davies was outraged to learn that some of this money goes to Iceland, saying, “It is totally unacceptable that a country that is refusing to pay back billions of pounds it owes us should be receiving a single penny of overseas aid from us. The Government should ensure that these payments are halted immediately.”
International Development minister Stephen O’Brien defended the fund, saying that while less than perfect, scrapping it altogether would not necessarily ensure that the money would go to needier countries.
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