• DESPITE his in-depth knowledge of Europe, Yanis Varoufakis’ desire to see it united and working for all its people led him to accept the role of Greece’s Finance Minister.

He first tried to negotiate with the Troika, comprised of the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Meetings with them were a waste of coffee and biscuits. So much did they discount a change of mind that they did not even bother to take minutes.

Next, Mr Varoufakis trailed around Europe lobbying member governments. This was a waste of plane fuel because the ministers had evidently no real influence.

As he puts it, he found no more democracy in Europe than there is oxygen on the moon. German Finance Minister Dr Wolfgang Schäuble told him: “Elections cannot be allowed to dictate economic policy.”

But if Mr Varoufakis was naïve in attempting to negotiate a deal in Europe then how much more naïve are Theresa May’s ministers, following in his wake three years later, via Emmanuel Macron and the rest, despite having Varoufakis’ memoirs to take warning from?

The PM will come back without a deal and, while we may Brexit in March, we will still be bound by some of the European controls over which we never really had influence in the first place.

Not to worry! Give it time and the European Union will fragment under the weight of its unaccountable currency union.

So don’t panic. We can seek conciliation in that if a ship is going to break up, it is probably better to be on the hand rail ready to jump, even if you have failed to negotiate a lifeboat.

Oh, and we will be unable to trade with Iran because rules imposed by the US’s hegemony will still Trump everything we do, whether we are in or half out of the EU.

CHRIS GRAHAM
Tollington Park, N4