Wow, Irish PM Leo Varadkar has thrown his dummy out of his pram….again.
Does the Irish PM REALLY want UK consumers to stop buying Irish products? Because if he doesn't he is doing his best to antagonise the ones that buy most of his countrys goods that they produce.
In an interview yesterday with the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg, the Irish PM Leo Varadkar told her that the UK hasn’t “yet come to terms with the fact it’s now a small country.”
On Friday at 11 pm GMT, the United Kingdom will no longer be a member of the European Union. The Republic of Ireland will.
Just for one moment let me just ponder on that statement and show dear Leo how wrong he is. In one respect the United Kingdom is indeed small, a small island just off the coast of mainland Europe. Yet this small island has punched way above its smallness for hundreds of years and even now in 2020 on the cusp of this small island leaving the EU we are still punching above our smallness. Why do I say this?
Well, as his heroes his counterparts who he admires so much have admitted this small island the moment the clock strikes 11 pm on 31 January the outcome of this small island leaving is like 18 EU countrys leaving the EU block at the same time.
Yes, Leo this small country with it leaving shrinks the EU dramatically because of the enormous pulling power of its gigantic economy.
I don't wish to insult the good people of the ROI, but let's face it Leo who would miss the ROI if you decided to leave? Don't ever forget that you have for years had to have handouts from the EU, only in the last couple of years have you started to pay your way. Never forget Leo that the ROI was so incompetent that this small island had to bail you out so that you did not go bankrupt. Yes, you paid interest on that bailout but even the rate of interest was set not by the ones loaning your small country the money but by your friends at the EU who ordered the UK to drop the interest payable on the loan. The interest loan rate was 5.8% on the £3.26bn loan however the EU intervened and told the UK to cut it to 3.5%. So the UK lost out again. And people wonder why we wanted out of the EU.
However, I would like to remind Varadkar how his very small country relies on the country he disparages so much out of personnel spite.
In his interview, Varadkar raised the subject of population and trade. He talked about peace but failed to mention Ireland’s lamentable record in spending on defence. So let me remind him and people in general how his small country relies upon the UK.
The UK’s population of 66.3 million is 14 TIMES that of Ireland’s 4.8 million
The UK’s economy (GDP: $2.825 billion) is over 7 TIMES the size of Ireland’s ($0.382 billion)
Varadkar did NOT mention Ireland’s reliance on the UK to support its farming sector
Beef — 51.4% of Irish beef exports are sold to the UK
Pork — 43.5% of Irish pork exports are sold to the UK
Cheese — 50.2% of Irish cheese exports are sold to the UK
Neither did Mr Varadkar mention defence, for which the EU needs the UK
Ireland effectively relies on the UK for its defence, as it is not a member of NATO
Ireland spends the smallest proportion of GDP on the defence of any EU country
It spent just 0.3% of GDP on defence in 2018 — €0.94 billion
The UK spent 2.1% of GDP on defence — €50.5 billion — that’s 53 times more.
The Irish elections take place on 08 February and Mr Varadkar has never actually won an election as Taoiseach (Prime Minister).
Much of what he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg yesterday was for domestic consumption in the Republic of Ireland. However, I have said that for the past three years this clearly anti-British politician has been extremely unhelpful to his country’s nearest neighbour during the Brexit negotiations.
To say that the UK hasn’t “yet come to terms with the fact it’s now a small country” is not only a factual absurdity, it is also deeply unhelpful to many Irish businesses which rely on British consumers for their very existence.
Varadkar may have little interest in his country’s strong farming sector, but this would certainly come back to bite him if British consumers decided to boycott Irish agricultural products.
Three and a half years of Irish government Brexit hostility to the UK is quite enough in my view. The British people may be patient, but there are limits.
Sources: Irtish Central Statistics Office | BBC | World Bank | Eurostat (official EU statistics)
