A chara, – “We cannot keep constantly explaining to our voters and our citizens why the taxpayer should bear the costs of certain risks and not those people who have earned a lot of money from taking those risks.” So said German chancellor Angela Merkel at the G20 summit in Seoul yesterday (Home News, November 12th).
I agree. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – All is clear at last. Now we know who to blame for our economic difficulties. It’s the Germans what done it. For decades the burghers of Bonn and Berlin maliciously subsidised our farmers, forcing them into buying huge Mercedes and even huger tractors. When our weary farmers wanted to turn over their land to property developers, it was German bankers who gave our banks the money to pay for it. Once it became clear that we had blown every last euro on Charvet shirts, hairdos and consultants, the sinister German government itself became involved through the ECB in lending us yet more monopoly money to keep our Coalition in power.
Now comes their greatest crime. Their leader Angela Merkel has had the nerve to tell us the truth. This is a monstrous offence against our national political and economic culture. Angela Merkel seems to think that Europe can’t keep bailing us out like this all the time and that, at some point, someone will have to start haggling with bondholders. What an idea! There can be only one response to this litany of abuse. As a proud nation we must refuse all future loans, gifts, handouts and digouts from the Germans and their minions in Brussels. We will pay our own bills.
If, on the other hand, that prospect is not pleasing, then I suggest that we approach our friends and neighbours in our time of need, with a modicum of courtesy and a healthy dose of common sense. To do anything else would be to bite the hand before it has a chance to feed us. A good start would be a promise from our Taoiseach not to keep paying himself more from his bankrupt treasury than Dr Merkel earns for running an economy that actually works. – Yours, etc,