Priti Patel: Brussels Works for Big Business, Not the British People

Commenting on a letter in The Financial Times from multinational firms which together spend between €15.3 million and €17.65 million lobbying the European Commission,  Priti Patel MP said:

‘The EU works for big, foreign multinational companies but it doesn’t work for the British people who have to pay Brussels £350 million every week.

‘Of course Brussels is good for big businesses and fat cats who care about their bonuses – they can afford to spend huge amounts of money on lobbyists and lawyers to help them stitch up the rules. But it is bad for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs.

‘The British people will not be browbeaten into making a choice against their interests on 23 June. If we Vote Leave, we can take back control of our economy, democracy and borders.’

These giant multinationals spend between €15.3 million and €17.65 million lobbying the European Commission.

In 2015, Airbus spent between €1,750,000 and €1,999,999 lobbying the Commission.

In 2015, Bloomberg spent between €100,000 and €199,999 employing consultant lobbyists to lobby the Commission.

In 2015, Cisco spent between €1,000,000 and €1,249,999 lobbying the Commission.

In 2014, GE spent between €3,000,000 and €3,249,999 lobbying the Commission.

Between April 2014 and March 2015, Hitachi spent between €1,000,000 and €1,249,999 lobbying the Commission.

In 2014, Liberty Global spent between €1,000,000 and €1,249,999 lobbying the Commission.

In 2015, Mars spent between €400,000 and €499,999 lobbying the Commission.

In 2015, Ford spent between €500,000 and €599,999 lobbying the Commission.

In 2014, the Carlyle Group spent between €200,000 and €299,999 lobbying the Commission.

In 2015, Caterpillar spent between €400,000 and €499,999 on lobbying the Commission.

In 2015, Hutchison spent between €200,000 and €299,999 lobbying the Commission.

IBM spent between €1,500,000 and €1,749,000 lobbying the Commission.

Between July 2014 and June 2015, Microsoft spent between €4,250,000 and €4,499,999 lobbying the European Commission.

Serious questions have been raised about the propriety of these companies.

Bloomberg was involved in a huge scandal when it was revealed that over 10,000 private messages sent via Bloomberg terminals were intentionally leaked.

Microsoft has been embroiled in a huge political scandal and criminal investigation in Romania. This involved a bribe and money laundering system, allowing the state to circumvent public auctions for IT services and allowed Microsoft to sell their licenses for their operating systems at elevated prices to the state through a third party.

It was recently revealed that the culture at Microsoft UK was toxic, with the media describing ‘lewd behaviour, heavy drinking and sexism at its UK division’.