Aren’t you GLAD that the UK is not in the Eurozone?

“The political feud between the two leading parties in Portugal reached new heights over the weekend, ahead of the visit of EU, IMF and ECB officials to negotiate the bail-out on Tuesday. José Sócrates, Portugal’s caretaker Prime Minister, argued on Sunday that the opposition party had no policies, only “a box of surprises full of vague ideas and empty words”.

The leading parties had agreed to negotiate the bail-out together in order to guarantee cross party consensus, however, Socrates and Pedro Passos Coelho, leaders of the governing and main opposition party respectively, are said to barely be on speaking terms.

It is widely reported that the €80bn bail-out will involve significant austerity measures and labour market reforms, as well as a privatisation scheme to raise funds. Meanwhile, UK Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls suggested that the UK should not contribute to the bail-out of Portugal, despite the agreement being signed by the outgoing Labour government. Balls said “I think this is a crisis of the eurozone and the clear bulk of the financing should come from the eurozone.”

Let’s put Labour hypocrisy to one side and focus instead on Portugal. It is being torn in two with no hope of economic recovery and warring local politicians fighting over will do the IMF/EU bidding as another German fiefdom is created, this time bordering the Atlantic.