Did the IMF not go into the UK during the 80s? So yes VS other countries have helped you out.
Blimey, was it paved with gold?
It was at the end of the Rainbow Blizzie and the Very Rev Ian Paisley (hasn't he been made a Lord) has been laughing ever since. It bought the Good Friday Agreement and as I said we don't know how much more was given.
It was actually 8 billion.
Grumpy, because of all the belt tightening we have done and said we will do we are now credit worthy . When it comes to borrowing money from the rest of the world or anyone who would agree to lend us money we stand a good chance. We could have been in the same situation as Ireland had we stuck with let's borrow and inject more cash into our economy to stimulate the economy.
After the general election before the coalition forming the new government, Alistair Darling (not a member of the jumped up Bullingdon/Eton clown club) signed a European agreement that would force us to pay up in situations like this, had George Osborne (a member of the jumped up Bullingdon/Eton clown club) not offered to help Ireland out of the dilemma it is in we would have had to pay 20 billion or more forced by EU instead of the 7 billion we are offering .
Now, we don't have 7 billion cash to use ourselves let alone lend it, but we are in a very good position to Borrow at a very low interest rate (for the reason explained above) and lend it to Ireland at a higher rate. I believe there is an agreement that this money will be paid back to us within 3 years or so.
Why do we need to help Ireland? Because over 7% of our GDP is reliant on Ireland, here is a comparison. The Irish buy from us the equivalent of what India+China+Brazil+ Russia put together buy from us. Those 4 countries are the fastest growing economies in the world right now but don't want to play ball with us. So, stretching out a helping hand to the hand that feeds us is an honorable thing to do even if there was no self interest in it for us.
As for your first post in this thread, back in the 70s UK was almost bankrupt it recieved monetary support from other countries, let's hope we never have to go round with a begging bowl asking for money again.
Tayto, it was in the 70s, I am not 100% sure but I think the situation was so bad that the IMF did not help it was other sovereign countries that helped us out of the dark days. I have been meaning to look this up for a long time but never get a chance to do it.
Britain has not sought IMF help since 1976 when, with inflation approaching 27 per cent, Denis Healey, then the Chancellor, applied for a loan, shredding confidence in the Labour Government.
here's the link if anyone wants to check
http://business.timesonline.co...e/article5989746.ece
and we feel no pressure ref the while eurozone collapsing (and when it does it wasn't our fault kay ).
Those who didn't benefit from the property boom because they couldn't afford to get their feet on the property ladder in the good times here in the UK are the one's who are being clobbered the hardest and I expect it's much the same in Ireland.
I read recently that there's a new wave of Irish immigration due to the dire employment prospects in Ireland. Can't blame them either. If I was younger and didn't have family concerns I'd immigrate from the UK in a heartbeat. The UK will be screwed for the next seven years at least. I really can't see things getting better and by the time the Tories are finished, they'll be nothing left worth having that hasn't been sold off to their mates or cut to the bone. Rupert Murdoch will be the de-facto president of America's mini-me.
Or flood.