Greece my Palm...

Surprise, surprise? Greece has managed to get itself into debt to the tune of 300 billion Euros (£259 bn) and now it is somewhat concerned how it, or should I say France, Germany, the rest of the European Union and we - we being the average tax payers - are going to resolve  this problem.

The Greek government have come up with a viable austerity plan: to cut the budget deficit below the EU ceiling of 3% of GDP by 2012, from 12.7% in 2009: freeze public sector salaries and cut bonuses; replace only one in five of people leaving the civil service, raise average retirement by two years to 63, by 2015; and raise taxes on fuel, tobacco, alcohol and property.

This looks good on paper but as corruption has always been an essential part of Greece's political culture, where kickbacks are the norm for the provision of public services, those involved (an estimated 30% of the population) are not going to change their profitable habits overnight. According to the charts of international organisations such as the international Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Greece’s corruption record is even higher than that of most third world countries. Typically, the first reaction by the Greek trade unions and the public sector, faced with the austerity package, was to strike, further harming what little is left of their fragile economy.

France and Germany particularly are determined not let Greece fail, but any rescue package is eventually going to come out of all our pockets and not just those in the Eurozone countries.

If it was not so sad or serious an issue then I believe I have the solution to the Greek problem. Looking at a map of the Eurozone, how easy it would be to take a pair of scissors and snip Greece off the chart. After all, they have only been in the Eurozone since 2001. We would not be responsible for their mistakes, they would then get back their drachma to bribe with, and we, the grateful tourists, would get another inexpensive holiday destination – Jamas!