Tim Worstall

More Richard Murphy

Richard Murphy’s statement:

Ireland is a micro-state that steals other countries tax revenues. It
is not capable of being compared to the UK. It can only survive under
the shadow of the UK (and I say this as an Irish citizen). To take a
simple example, half its law is ‘borrowed’ from the UK because it does
not have the resources to develop its own, and that’s the most basic
function of government.

Reuters today:

Prime Minister Bertie Ahern unveiled plans in 2004 to repeal thousands
of English and British laws — some dating back to William the
Conqueror in the 11th century — that were enacted prior to Irish
Independence in 1922 and remain in force.

Interesting historical perspective he’s got there, eh?

In

5 responses

  1. Mark Wadsworth Avatar
    Mark Wadsworth

    Richard Murphy’s comments are spot on, what problem do you have with that? And if the Irish want to repeal old laws, good luck to them. One of best things they did was shift the tax year end from 5 of bloody April to 31 December.

    Reply
  2. Neil Craig Avatar
    Neil Craig

    So the reason Ireland is managing 7% growth is because of all the laws we Brits let William the Conqueror give them?
    If it was true that only small countries could achieve such growth figures China & India would be poorer.
    We could achieve Irish growth levels if we just used the same tactics. We could probably do better because Britain has a better patents/population ratio & the capacity to buildas much nuclear electricity as we want.
    Interestingly while Ireland’s economic success has not penetrated Westminster minds the Scottish National Party is standing on a somewhat diluted version of Ireland’s programme & looks like doing very well indeed in May.

    Reply
  3. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    it does not have the resources to develop its own, and that’s the most basic function of government
    What a bizarre statement. Is the basic function of government to produce laws? In the same way that the basic function of Toyota is to produce cars? The logical conclusion is that the UK should abolish the NHS, so that we can employ hundreds of thousands of MPs, lawyers etc, to create thousands of new laws every week.
    Also, why use the term “borrowed”? It implies the UK can no longer use that law because Ireland currently has it. A more correct term would be “copied”, and why not? Why should any country not copy laws they like from any other?
    Besides, what percentage of the new laws in the UK and Ireland come from the EU these days?

    Reply
  4. Martin Avatar
    Martin

    “Prime Minister Bertie Ahern unveiled plans in 2004 to repeal thousands of English and British laws — some dating back to William the Conqueror in the 11th century — that were enacted prior to Irish Independence in 1922 and remain in force.”
    Thousands, they say? Interesting.
    Not sure how many of them might still actually be in use – which is the critical thing.

    Reply
  5. Damien Avatar
    Damien

    So what was Ireland supposed to do when Britain left- delete all the English laws and just start from blank? I can see how well that would have worked.

    Reply

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