Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2015-10-05-Speech-1-055-000"
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"en.20151005.10.1-055-000"2
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"Madam President, of course we all feel for the Greek people. What is going on there is terrible for the people of Greece. They are not to blame for the situation at all.
We have been told Greece is in dire need of help and is suffering economic disaster. Well, as Basil Fawlty would say, ‘specialised subject: the bleeding obvious’. The measures to help pass through the committee came through with very little debate or democratic scrutiny at all. They passed through easily and smoothly to come to this place. I am concerned by some of them, and I suggest that the Greeks should remember the words of President Reagan when he said – and I paraphrase badly – that ‘I am from the government and I am here to help’ are the most frightening words in the English language. I would suggest that ‘I am from the EU and here to help’ are perhaps the most terrifying words in the English language. Help never comes without strings and it is never straightforward.
The Greek state reminds me very much of my uncle. He is a great chap, a likeable, top person, but he always needs and wants more than he can actually afford at the time, so he ends up asking for his money and his wages frontloaded. He never deals with the real problem, which is that he spends too much on beer and cigarettes. The Greek state should deal with the real problem. They should begin by leaving the eurozone: that is the obvious way forward for them. What will happen when other countries within the eurozone see what happens here, see this precedent and demand any funds to them to be frontloaded?
It is unsustainable. Maybe we should appoint Basil Fawlty as an EU Commissioner and perhaps he can then point out the ‘bleeding obvious’ and we can get some common sense in this place."@en1
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