Thatcher 1990

[Mich the Tester]

Couldn't this be resolved were Greece and other countries borrowing money required to put down some collateral? Something tangible that people [easterners probably] would buy or invest in? Okay, I mentioned Corfu the other day tongue in cheek, but maybe privatisations or something. Not sure what else 'something' could comprise. Have Greece got nothing of value?

The Elgin Marbles?

oops

[Lockhouse]

Watching Thatcher's famous Euro speech on YouTube (I don't have a link as I'm at work but it's the one about 15 mins long) makes one realise;

1) She was extraordinarily prescient about what would happen to Europe.

2) We don't have proper politicians anymore.

[Doggy Styles]

It's a gamble. We need to plan for the € collapsing but we also need to consider that if a true US of Europe emerges over the next 10 years and we are left out that could also be disadvantageous for us.

Being left out of the US of Europe would be a blessing. What would we want to subsume ourselves into that for?

We only want to trade with other countries, and it's to nobody's advantage to prevent an independent UK from doing so.

[craig1]

3) She was as mad as a box of frogs by the end.

Didn't like the woman in the slightest but even at her most insane and scary she was still more competent than any prime minister since. I can't ever imagine her hugging a hoodie.

[DodgyAgent]

Didn't like the woman in the slightest but even at her most insane and scary she was still more competent than any prime minister since. I can't ever imagine her hugging a hoodie.

I could even now

[Churchill]

I can.

She'd use a garotte.

Tebbit would use a garotte. Thatcher would use a stiletto - and I don't mean the shoe...

[BlasterBates]

Hang on a mo, the reason why Thatcher said that wasn't because she'd had some superhuman premonition into what would happen. What she'd done was observe East and West Germany unifying their currencies and the sudden collapse of East German indusrties that required huge transfers.

This did not happen. In other words unifying the currencies did not lead to an immediate collapse of weaker economies that required immediate fiscal transfers.

What has happened is that countries have "gorged" themselves on cheap debt, and left French and German banks so exposed that they're now forced to keep them going until the banks have sufficient capital.

Now we can argue that she was right "sort of" but she didn't predict that. It's more "luck".

People are reading a bit much in here, with her foresight.

[doodab]

Being left out of the US of Europe would be a blessing. What would we want to subsume ourselves into that for?

We only want to trade with other countries, and it's to nobody's advantage to prevent an independent UK from doing so.

At the moment we are equal members of the EU. We have a hand in shaping EU legislation. A US of E would shift the balance of power considerably, it would become the dominant member of any larger European trade block, we would potentially have less power in shaping wider EU legislation and no influence whatsoever over the constitution of the US of E. So we might well find it more difficult and costly to trade with such a partner as a consequence. We might also start to appear less attractive as a financial centre compared to one located in the US of E itself, and the UK might also find it harder to attract the sort of foreign investment which sees the UK as a good place to set up shop in the EU.

[BlasterBates]

The United States of Europe aint going to happen, but what will happen is that EU fiscal rules will have to be strengthened. The closest you will get to a "United States of Europe" is Eurobonds.

[DodgyAgent]

I worry about you.

I am just glad I am not gay