Iceland refuses to repay Britain £3.6bn – what does its biggest fan think?

Green Politics

Tory MEP Daniel Hannan has failed to condemn Iceland for its refusal to repay Britain a £3.6 billion loan.

Daniel Hannan has this week blogged about Gordon Brown, Government debt, Britain’s worst MP and even pronounced on whether British children should learn Chinese, yet the Eurosceptic hardliner has been remarkably quiet about the nation he recently described as a “deregulated, competitive, offshore haven” – Iceland, which today had its international credit rating downgraded to “junk” status.

Iceland is threatening to default on the £3.6 billion it owes Britain for bailing out the Baltic state at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. Icelandic President Ólafur Grimsson is refusing to sign the repayment into law, putting it to a referendum of Iceland’s 243,000 voters, which, says The Times:

“Threatened to bring down the Icelandic Government, took its financial system to the brink of collapse and sparked the worst row with Britain since the Cod Wars of the 1970s.”

This is what Mr Hannan said at the time, in October 2008:

“For courage, ponder this message on my blog from an Icelandic fisherman who had saved up to attend university in Denmark. Suddenly, his savings are gone, his currency worthless.

“‘We have lost our money, we may lose our economic freedom, but we will not lose our honour. Iceland will meet its obligations to the British people, no matter what. I will quit school and abandon my dreams, go back to my boat and work till my fingers bleed to play my part in paying off our debt.’

“Read those words, Prime Minister, and hang your head in shame.”

So, Mr Hannan, when are we going to get a blog post calling For Mr Grimsson to “hang your head in shame”? A week before that post, Mr Hannan had even blamed the UK for Iceland’s woes, blindly refusing to acknowledge the failings of the Icelandic system:

“And so, when the credit crunch came, the Icelandic government was in no position to underwrite its institutions: the banks’ combined liabilities were eight times the size of the national GDP. Nor were things helped by British financial rules changing on an almost daily basis, opening Icelandic banks to liabilities that they could not have foreseen when they began…

“Some people say Iceland should join the EU…Don’t do it, Iceland. Your current status gives you the best of all worlds. It made you rich and free.”

And in 2004, he wrote a Spectator column in which he described Icelanders as the “happiest, freest and wealthiest people on earth”, by virtue of them being outside the EU. Left Foot Forward wonders whether he still believes that to be true.

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20 Responses to “Iceland refuses to repay Britain £3.6bn – what does its biggest fan think?”

  1. Mark

    The Icelandic issue is an interesting one, a shame you have to cloud it by bringing in an ranting MEP to the debate.

    Iceland coughed up in full the amount due under the FSCS guarantee, it is shameful that Britain is now bullying it to pay up in full. After all, we are not lobbying Alex Salmond to make the Scots pay for the collapse of HBOS and RBS.

  2. Polaris

    Baltic State? How did that happen, I don’t think you can tow islands through the Skagerrak and Kattegat – geography fail.

    I thought it was telling that the majority of Icelandic citizens had never heard of Icesave, why should they pay the debts of a failed private business?

  3. Anon E Mouse

    Councils and public bodies should save money in the UK where the interest that they gain can be taxed for the benefit of the country and jobs in banking can be in this country, not overseas..

    To believe it is right to send ratepayers money out of the country to gain more interest and then complain when things go wrong is pathetic.

    Next you’ll be telling me the government used the Terrorism Act to freeze Icelands assets to bully them or that Tessa Jowell, a cabinet member of the government is married to a tax avoidance lawyer…

  4. Paul Evans

    Iceland refuses to repay Britain £3.6bn. Dan Hannan is very quiet! Wonder why? http://bit.ly/51T2MR

  5. J Clive Matthews

    RT @Paul0Evans1: Iceland refuses to repay Britain £3.6bn. Dan Hannan is very quiet! Wonder why? http://bit.ly/51T2MR

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