Angela is leaving

[Spardo]

Garnered elsewhere, had me laughing and crying at the same time.

https://t.co/WyWLFF5J71

[exile]

Brilliant.
Who said Germans have no sense of humour?

[Richard]

Good riddance I say.
She was bad for Germany and bad for Europe.

[Spardo]

Good riddance I say.
She was bad for Germany and bad for Europe.

Agree to differ.

[exile]

Having lived 17 years in Germany under Kohl, Schroeder and Merkel, I think you are ill-informed Richard.

[Spectrum]

Thats very strange we was just listening to Kraftwerk last night, funny piece, Germany's answer to spitting image.

[Blaze]

[mention]Richard[/mention] Having also lived in Germany under different Chancellors, like Exile, I disagree.
Why you think Angela Merkel was bad for Germany and Europe ?

[Richard]

Why you think Angela Merkel was bad for Germany and Europe ?

She moved Germany away from nuclear energy and made her country too reliant on Russian gas.
She upset much of southern europe with her austerity measures which led to the rise of more extreme parties in those countries.
Her handling of the migrant crisis was appalling and helped the rise of the AfD.
She has alienated the Hungarian and Polish governments.
She didn't offer Cameron anything on migration which probably helped Brexit happen.
And she moved her party to the left and lost votes.

[exile]

Why you think Angela Merkel was bad for Germany and Europe ?

She moved Germany away from nuclear energy and made her country too reliant on Russian gas.

The German population was becoming more and more unhappy with nuclear power. Old stations with faults and becoming increasing dangerous - or at least potentially so. Reliant on old and failed technology. The options were shut them down and rely on imported energy, wait for the almost inevitable serious incident, hold on for 20 years while new nuclear stations were built. It was sold on the end of nuclear reliance within Germany which was rather strange given the amount of imported nuclear electricity then being bought from France (much as the UK today). With the benefit of 6 weeks hindsight of course reliance on Russian gas has become a problem. The previous 15 years however .....?

She upset much of southern europe with her austerity measures which led to the rise of more extreme
parties in those countries.

And the alternative to austerity (which incidentally was already built into agreed EU rules) would have been what? Inflation and the Germans have built into their psyche a real fear of inflation due to the folk memories of the 1920s.

Her handling of the migrant crisis was appalling and helped the rise of the AfD.

I agree that the rise of Alternativ fuer Deutschland has at least in part if not in the main happened as a result of accepting 1million migrants. The problem with AfD - much like a portion of the little England Brexiteers - is that they forget conveniently the reliance on the local economy on migrants or Gastarbeiter as they were formerly known. They used to be Croats and Bosnians, later Turks. Now they are Iranians, Afghans, Iraqis, Syrians, Somalis. Fleeing war, conflict, persecution. Those with true Christian or Humanist beliefs do not just discard people in need and trouble (CDU = Christian Democratic Union). Germany actually needs such people - just as the UK is finding it too needs doctors, nurses, care workers, HGV drivers etc.

And again the alternative? Well, these people were fleeing their homes anyway, so the question is, if Germany had not taken them where would they have ended up? Italy? Greece? Croatia? In all cases Germany would have ended up paying for these people anyway through EU support - just for no benefit to Germany

She has alienated the Hungarian and Polish governments.

I think they have done a good job on alienating themselves

She didn't offer Cameron anything on migration which probably helped Brexit happen.

Why should she? Cameron had a whole box of tools to deal with migration issued by the EU already. The same box that the Hungarians used. The box that France has used from time to time.

Cameron could not even be @rsed to go to the garage to get the tool box out.

So why should anyone else offer him a new set of tools.

And she moved her party to the left and lost votes.

Well that's politics. It kind of cuts across your argument that she was such a disaster that you cite the possible cause of her downfall as a negative when surely it should be a positive shouldn't it?

And the probable replacement will be just a tad more to the left.

[Spardo]

Couldn't disagree with a word of that Andy, not one.