madam president we in this house know perhaps better than some outside the extent to which the european union has now become a mechanism for the massive redistribution of wealth
for a long time that system worked very well because there were only a very small number of people paying into the pot
the only two net contributors to the budget for most of the european union's history were the united kingdom and outstandingly germany
however things have changed now and the money is running out
we saw that vividly illustrated at the summit two weeks ago when the hungarian prime minister demanded a eur one hundred and ninety billion bail-out for central and eastern europe and was told in no uncertain terms by the german chancellor that the money was not there and would not be forthcoming
german taxpayers and this is rarely acknowledged have always propped up the whole system
integration rests on their sufferance and they have now seen through this
they are not responding any more to the unspoken appeal to historical responsibility
they are a sensible level-headed people and can recognise a self-serving argument and spot a racket when they see one
if you think i am wrong about this then let them have a referendum let everyone have a referendum put the treaty of lisbon to a vote
