David Norris (Independent)

Let us put it to the test. We are quite capable of doing this and we should use that to get relief from the bank debt. We are told that those of us on this side of the House do not do the sums. I do not believe those on the Government side do either. If we sign up to this and it is implemented strictly, the debt-reduction rules should ensure a further €5 billion will be paid to the bankers and bondholders each year. The bankers and bondholders are not an irrelevancy, they are central.

There was a quiet change in February with the importation of this blackmail clause which threatened that any member state that did not sign up to the austerity treaty would be shut out from participation in the bailout fund. How is that for European solidarity? We have been part of Europe ever since the continent of Europe was geologically formed.