David Norris (Independent)

I said this years ago and I have repeated it. What is happening in Europe is a phenomenon with historical parallel if we consider how Prussia was formed into Germany, first with a customs union followed by tighter fiscal control and so on, and eventually the German Reich. At that stage I said it would go in one of two ways. A centrifugal force has been inevitably set in motion which would inexorably lead to either a strong fiscal union or an explosion of the entire system. While I do not gloat in it, I believe we are seeing an explosion of the system. I believe the whole system in Europe is unravelling, which presents us with an opportunity. Throughout this crisis both domestically and internationally there has been a complete lack of any kind of prophetic vision and it has been replaced by tinkering around at the edges so that the system could be preserved. The welfare of the people must be put first. We need to measure what impact that has on the system and then adjust the system accordingly. Communism collapsed because it was too doctrinaire. We have a very doctrinaire form of capitalism and I believe it is also going to collapse.

One of the things we were not told is that the importation by stealth of the blackmail clause in this treaty could be defeated by the Government. We have the capacity to hold a gun to the head of the bullies in Europe and particularly in Berlin and Frankfurt. We could refuse to ratify the ESM.