The EU: 'A German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe'

By Chris Moncrieff
Updated: 04:29 EST, 21 November 2011

How many people remember these prophetic words uttered by the late Nicholas Ridley 21 years ago in an interview with The Spectator magazine? He said the proposed Economic and Monetary Union was 'a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe'.

The statement was seen at the time as diplomatically unacceptable and it forced Ridley to resign from Margaret Thatcher’s Government as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, although Thatcher may well have secretly agreed with his remarks.

Now it is beginning to feel as though the United Kingdom, along with other EU member states, is being lectured to by the Germans.

Lectured: David Cameron's recent talks with Angela Merkel gave the impression that Germany has the upper hand over Britain

It appears, for starters, that the Germans have been drawing up secret plans to prevent a British referendum on the overhaul of the European Union. And the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has effectively told David Cameron that Britain 'does not need' a referendum. So who does the Prime Minister listen to, a foreign leader or the substantial body of opinion in his own home-grown party who are clamouring for a referendum? There is, of course, also the small matter of a general election promise that a referendum would be held if Cameron became Prime Minister.

The intractable Mrs Merkel is also refusing to drop plans to impose a financial tax which is seen as a direct attack on the City of London. Indeed, Sir John Major has described it as 'a heat-seeking missile' aimed at the Square Mile.

On top of all that the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble has said that Britain will have to drop the pound and join the euro 'faster than people think'. He has been backed up, unsurprisingly, by Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, an ardent europhile.

Now, the German press has started to lambast Cameron. One paper described him as  'a little  Englander' premier, adding: 'Europe has bigger things to worry about than the concerns of British eurosceptics.'

So it is little wonder that when Cameron and Merkel emerged from one recent set of talks there were bleak smiles on their faces. They unsuccessfully tried to make out that things were not that bad and that we were the best of friends. What is for sure is that Cameron and Merkel are at each other’s throats.

And Nicholas Ridley saw all this coming more than 20 years ago.

Read Chris Moncrieff's RightMinds blog here