Chairman of the European Foundation, Bill Cash MP, said in the House of Commons back on 7 October: "The idea of a European bail-out of the banking system was pure grandstanding by the President of France, who is currently president of the Union. It was a nonsensical notion. There is absolutely no way in which the amount of money required could possibly be provided by the taxpayers of Europe. Some of the countries of Europe would be devastated by the idea that they should contribute to a bail-out for one country. That is why Germany took a position in relation to its own vital national interests. The same applies to Ireland. I feel strongly that one of the reasons there are jitters, deep anxiety and a sense of disturbance in the economic markets in the City is that people there witness decisions being taken that have an impact on financial discipline in individual countries. We have seen what happened to Iceland. The real question for the countries concerned is whether the system within which they operate is sensible enough for anyone to have any confidence in it."