Angela Merkel is destroying Europe. Or at least that was the motion at an Intelligence Squared debate last night in Chelsea’s Cadogan Hall. Defending Merkel were historian Antony Beevor and French journalist Christine Ockrent. Proposing the motion were Left-wing Greek MP Euclid Tsakalotos and Huffington Post political director Mehdi Hasan.
Hasan was criticised by a German audience member for mentioning Hitler four times in his speech. Hasan also claimed Merkel’s insistence that southern European nations “take the pain and get on the floor” was “macho”. “She’s very female,” shot back Ockrent, prompting laughter from the audience.
The motion was defeated, with its proponents only adding five percentage points to their pre-debate score of 18 per cent.
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