Tim Worstall This is absurd! So the bankers whose excesses helped land Europe in this mess then get to sit round the big EU table, like any other government, and decide who should pay for it. And the answer, unsurprisingly, is: not them. The bigger question is: why finance has been granted such power? This  [ Read More ]

John Redwood Some say it is democracy – but not as we know it. It is true the Euro is a great device for bringing down EU member states governments. Recent victims include Ireland and Portugal, with the Greek government hanging by a thread. Electors can still change the people who are in a government,  [ Read More ]

Ruth Lea Last weekend’s IMF and G20 meetings were of the utmost significance. Amidst crashing equity markets and IMF downgrades, the Eurozone’s leaders came under intense criticism and pressure from other participants to “resolve” the Eurozone crisis, which has been proving so destabilising to the financial markets. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, for example, called  [ Read More ]

John Redwood Many governments have run out of road to borrow more money. Ireland, Greece, Portugal, and now Spain and Italy are having to rein in their deficits owing to the reluctance of the markets to lend to them. France is undertaking pre-emptive cuts to avoid a run against her bonds. The USA is now  [ Read More ]

The People’s Pledge Several interesting things happened on Monday night in the Commons. If you’re a keen supporter of the European integration project you will be pleased and no less surprised, but if you count yourself as a Eurosceptic you should still find reason to be cheered. We start off with the Commons’ consideration of  [ Read More ]

John Redwood The UK government has been right to argue against a further Greek bail out, and right to keep the UK out of any direct Greek bail out. I have argued here that another bail out for a country which cannot afford its current debts will not solve the problem. it just means more  [ Read More ]

Mark Reckless Much has changed since a €78 billion Portuguese ‘bail-out’ was nodded through on 3rd May. I believe that Parliament, and through its lobbying the People’s Pledge, have played a key role in that. From Portugal to Greece there have been three big moves. 1. We put a stop to the use of the  [ Read More ]