UK taxpayers should not bail out Republic - Allister

16 November 2010

Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister:-

“The parlous state of the Republic’s economy not just buries any argument in favour of Irish unification under an insurmountable mountain of economic realities, but is an object lesson in the colossal failure of the Eurozone.

“With several Euro economies now in meltdown and requiring huge bail outs, the question is who should pay? Those nations which were foolish enough to adopt the Euro and submit to the Eurozone or those that had the fiscal wit to stay out? The answer undoubtedly should be that it is for the Eurozone countries alone to bear this self-created burden, yet, we are about to see non-Eurozone countries, like the UK, expected to bail out the profligate Euro economies.  This is monstrous and wrong.

“The UK since it joined the EU in 1973, as a huge net contributor, has been putting British pounds in the Republic’s pocket, because their massive draw downs of EU funds came from the net contributing countries. All that is bad enough without us now being expected to rescue their failed and bust economy.

“I am disappointed that David Cameron is showing no signs of telling the Eurozone countries that they must fund their own profligacy. The EU already consumes more of our national wealth than we can afford, without us bankrolling the Republic, Greece and whoever next is a casualty of the failed Euro experiment.

“The single greatest contribution the EU could make to recovery is to lift its dead hand of crippling regulation from the back of business, but since that is its speciality and reason d’etre a regulation holiday for business is probably the last thing it will give.”

NI politics