John Ward August 5, 2013 Breaking...Stournaras rejects further austerity in Greece

GREECE BREAKING….Stournaras says “more austerity not the answer”

Yannis Stournaris told Bloomberg in the last few hours that further austerity being applied to the Greek situation would not achieve anything. Given that the Sprouts in Brussels, leeches in the lending sector, and anal retentives in Berlin have precisely this in mind, one wonders where this might all end.

I await the reaction from Mario Draghi and Wolfie Wheelchair with great interest. Stay tuned.

21Comments

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1

tassosgr on August 6, 2013 at 1:11 pm

@ GrahamD
there is absolutely no need to apologize my friend. I was merely trying to say that there are reasons for this tax-evading reality. I’m sure you are indeed sympathetic to the Greeks but I will add just one thought. All Greeks (being reasonably smart) realized the unsustainable nature of our lifestyle but instead of pulling the brakes we just went with the flow hoping we somehow will get away with it. As much as it hurts me to say this we need to lose everything and start fresh. The problem is we have no political personnel capable of leading the country forwards and the best part of our youth is already heading abroad. A recipe for disaster, no doubt.

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2

GrahamD on August 6, 2013 at 7:03 am

@tassosgr I apologise if I did not make my point clearly….I certainly to not blame my Greek friends, or any other Greeks from wishing to avoid paying taxes more or less directly to corrupt politicians and government officials, rather than for the benefit of the less well off or for infrastucture that promotes growth. I understand this totally.

Geli and the Sprouts cannot get it at all…hence the use the Troika to try to extract money that Greeks can’t pay or won’t pay. At least here in the UK, we have a reasonable confidence that our taxes will benefit and support our society as a whole….we don’t like paying them, but accept that reasonable taxation is for the common good. I have every sympathy with the Greeks on this one.

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3

Anomalous on August 5, 2013 at 11:20 pm

DomesticExtremist

I can forgive you for not understanding the significance of Gibraltar. Not many Britons do know the full story (unless they’ve signed the Official Secrets Act!).

It is sufficient to say that without Gibraltar, Malta could never have survived WW2 and without Malta, Rommel would have won in the North African Desert and Hitler would have had all the oil he needed, as well as a way of interrupting the trade from India.

In short, Gibraltar was key to winning the Mediterranean war and as a result, Hitler lost 250 thousand men and suffered a major defeat which was the turning point in WW2.

Present day, Gibraltar is a major NATO base. It may not look big, but don’t let size deceive you. Gibraltar is much like Swiss cheese – full of holes!

There are other NATO bases in the Mediterranean, but Gibraltar is very conspicuous, because many US ships heading for the Eastern Med need to top up on fuel after crossing the Atlantic or resupply with stores before they commence their patrols. Ships from all NATO nations call at Gibraltar.

More important than all of this though are the 30,000 Gibraltarians, who like the Falkland Islanders, want to remain British, and keep Gibraltar as British soil. We lost 255 servicemen to free 2,000 Falkland Islanders, but we have an equal duty to preserve the rights of 30,000 British Gibraltarians.

Gibraltar has every right to remain British, because it’s been British longer than it was ever Spanish. The Spanish captured it from the North African Moors, but lost it in the War of the Spanish Succession. They agreed to hand it over forever & the Gibraltarians are very happy to be British. They like our customs, what we stand for, our way of life, our integrity. They could never consider being Spanish. They don’t hate the Spanish people, just the lunatic Government that keeps attacking them – trying to deny their rights of sovereignty & self-determination.

I’ve been to Gibraltar many times and I feel more at home on the Rock than anywhere else in the world.

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4

tassosgr on August 5, 2013 at 11:19 pm

….. and you have no idea what your comment means, in real life for ordinary Greeks. Every citizen in this country, even foreign pensioners who chose to live here can provide hundreds of infuriating stories of State incompetence, “paperocracy” (falsely referred to as bureaucracy) and criminal negligence that are completely beyond belief and totally unacceptable.
Not paying taxes in Greece now and for the foreseeable future is not a bad habit, it’s common sense. It’s nothing short of paying for goods that are never delivered to you.
The degree in which you can’t accept or understand this is proportional to the quality of services you are enjoying and take for granted, in your country.

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5

DomesticExtremist on August 5, 2013 at 6:43 pm

Great – let them organise their own defence and overseas treaties without burdening the UK’s serfs.

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6

the ghost on August 5, 2013 at 4:57 pm

This is a conspiracy Daniel Levy is stirring up trouble,he intents to sell Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for £100m,then get Gibraltar closed off,Real will then do a Ossie Ardiles & loan out to spurs for a year or so until the trouble is sorted
A cunning plan me thinks,

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7

Anomalous on August 5, 2013 at 4:32 pm

Emphatically NO.

Gibraltar is home to thriving insurance & on-line gaming business. They run their economy so well they have a budget surplus.

There are no money launderers or smugglers or tax evasion, these are lies that the Spanish tell. Just see this report (in Spanish) which refutes the lies:
http://gibraltarlibre.blogspot.co.uk/p/mentiras-sobre-gibraltar.html

Spain agreed to the tripartite Cordoba agreement concerning flights into Gibraltar as a condition to allow their entry to the EU. Passenger planes still flew to Gibraltar even whilst Franco was in power (I flew there in 1970) but they had to fly a difficult route to get to the Rock.

Even Spain did not have airspace rights when the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, because people did not fly!

Blair may have attempted to hand back the Rock, but Camoron would never be so stupid as to give Farage a Cause célèbre to rally support to leave the EU.

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8

GrahamD on August 5, 2013 at 4:24 pm

Mr Stournaris could have said the same thing a year or two ago for all the good Austerity has done for the Greek economy. The cupboard is bare and what money there might have been to be taxed is long gone to safer climes.

The reason that the Greeks do not pay taxes (unless plunged into darkness) is that they know that a large part will be creamed off by their corrupt politicians, whichever ones are in power at the time. We (begrudgingly) pay taxes because although our Govermnent wastes a lot of it, very little gets skimmed off on its way to the various ministeries and we do still live in some hope that most of our cash will be used for the betterment of our society.

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9

Anomalous on August 5, 2013 at 4:21 pm

Tony Blair already tried that and 99% of the Gibraltarians voted against it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/gibraltar/9033228/How-Tony-Blair-tried-to-give-Gibraltar-to-Spain-to-curry-favour-with-the-European-Union.html?fb

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10

InTeleGent on August 5, 2013 at 3:58 pm

I see the ranting, rancid racist likes conflict for its own sake. Is that how you prove British superiority and sovereignty. OAH,as JW refers to you:
Odorous
Arse
Hole

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11

kfc1404 on August 5, 2013 at 3:35 pm

Oh, business as usual, smoke and mirrors to distract the proles. Nothing changes, does it?

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12

Roven on August 5, 2013 at 3:22 pm

It’s time to leave the Euro. Period. If banks in Germany implode as a result, so be it. That’s capitalism.

And if the Greek leadership insists on staying in the Euro, it’s time for good old fashioned lynchings.

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13

alexandra on August 5, 2013 at 3:09 pm

If memory serves, Samaras said just the same thing before they squeezed the pips last time. And rolled over, legs in air, to comply when push came to shove. As will they all again, and again if it means keeping their jobs.

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14

stevo on August 5, 2013 at 3:00 pm

Gibralter, is a vipers nest of money launderers, smugglers, tax evasion, and drug money, many Spanish workers live in La Linea,they commute daily to gib, also many Expats, as rentals in gib are high. They may well be building a new reef on the pretex of reclaiming more land.
Spain allowed flights into gib,for humanitarian reasons, during conflict. Gibralter never had permanent landing rights in Spanish air space. There were no planes around.
camerlot would gladly hand back the pimple, but the locals are steadfast in remaining British, to back them up in times of overbaiting the spanish ( no pun intended ).

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15

MaxC on August 5, 2013 at 1:41 pm

Good job it’s only Spain. All politicians know there’s nothing like a war to get the punters behind you and boost production – even if it’s only tin helmets.

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16

FrenchNews (@FrenchNewsonlin) on August 5, 2013 at 1:32 pm

Perhaps Cameroon will invoke the ancient Anglo-Portuguese alliance as Thatcher did during the Falklands conflict. Lisbon would surely react positively. Portugal’s Foreign Ministry has long backed Britain’s hold on Gibralter on the grounds that Spain refuses to give Olivença back to Portugal. Then there’s always Melilla and Ceuta which Morocco wants returned. Murky waters down there on the Med.

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17

Salford Lad on August 5, 2013 at 1:11 pm

Gibraltar along with gay marriage,baby George, anything will do to distract &,decieve the masses from the real issue of an economy spiraling down & out of control. Just another bait and switch. The oldest Politicians trick in the book,similar to the spivs 3-card trick. First you see it , then you don’t.

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18

Tony on August 5, 2013 at 1:02 pm

My guess is that Camerlot would hand Gib. over tomorrow if they thought they could get away with it.

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19

oldasiahand on August 5, 2013 at 12:52 pm

I hope Spain imposes the tax and we retaliate to the maximum.

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20

DomesticExtremist on August 5, 2013 at 12:51 pm

Perhaps the British will respond by putting the Spanish
enclave on the Isle of Sheppey under siege.

Oh, hang on, there isn’t one.

Never mind, I’m sure that won’t stop Camerlot banging the
post-Imperial jingoism drum. Any distraction will do.

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21

Anomalous on August 5, 2013 at 12:43 pm

Greece has taken about as much as they can. It makes you wonder why they haven’t sabotaged the Euro by printing as many as they can to undermine the Troika’s attempts to make Greece a slave nation.

Mind you, the behaviour of Spain with respect the Gibraltar may bring about the end of the European Union.

Spain is acting much like Argentina and using the Gibraltar dispute to distract from their own woes, the bribery scandal, the chronic youth unemployment, the failing economy.

If Spain tries to impose the 50 Euro levy, then Brussels will have to act to fine them, or it will be “Bye Bye Brussels” from London, whether or not UKIP wins at the elections.

The indications are that the militant fishermen are planning a blockade of Gibraltar. That will force London to act to break the blockade and arrest the fishermen. Madrid will respond by closing the border and Brussels will respond with a massive fine. If they don’t, then they hand UKIP an automatic Cause célèbre or Casus belli to win the next Euro-election and totally disrupt the European Parliament, followed by a win at the General Election.

Spain is displaying typical latin machismo which can only result in a humiliating defeat, just as the Argentines found out in 1982.

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