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		MEP attacks Irish loan plan Monday, 22nd November 2010 An East Midlands MEP has condemned the coalition government’s plan to contribute £7 billion to the Irish bailout. Conservative Roger Helmer has said that helping Ireland because they are a trading partner is like a company lending money to a bankrupt costumer so that they can continue trading. He compares it to attempting to pick ourselves up by our own boot laces. Helmer also argues that the Irish loan is in effect an attempt to bail out the Euro currency. He believes that since we have the foresight to stay out of the disastrous Single Currency experiment, we should not bear the cost of the rescue. The £7 billion loan will cost every household in Britain £300. Mr Helmer said, “It is ridiculous that when we are cutting government spending and cutting our UK deficit, we are planning to borrow an extra £7 billion to lend it to Ireland at below market rates.”