Who said that the Germans ‘pay half of the countries [in the European Union].
Who said that the Germans ‘pay half of the countries [in the European Union]. Ireland gets 6 per cent of their gross domestic product this way. When is Ireland going to stand up to the Germans?’ It was Nicholas Ridley in his infamous interview with Dominic Lawson in this paper just over 20 years ago. Now he has got his answer, sort of. Ireland is trying to stand up to the Germans, and probably failing. If you strip out the unwarranted anti-German sentiment in Ridley’s interview and concentrate on his analysis, he has been proved right. Germany did, as he feared, set up the single currency in a way which ensured its dominance of the European continent. It did bring about a world in which, for members of the euro, the German Chancellor tries, as Ridley put it, ‘to lay down what we should do on the banking front and what our taxes should be’.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in