It took The UK over fifty years to repay the Marshall plan.

It would be easy to say The USA shouldn't have wanted paying for helping defeat fascism in Europe and that it was in their interest to do so. But you know what? The British government made an undertaking to pay it back.

Which is why we are solvent year to year despite suffering the same banking collapses as everyone else and a large long term deficit and Greece isn't.

The hold ups at the moment as I type are that the Euro ministers simply cannot trust Greece to either be in a position to pay it back or, as seen from the referendum, be willing to ever pay it back.

It isn't politics. It isn't Jim Carroll's stupid remarks about "us & them" right wing claptrap. (Especially as the French finance minister is about as left wing as you can get in the real world) and it certainly isn't about entertaining the naive shit Mr Carroll comes out with.

Yes, you did work hard for your pension. But like the Greeks are finding out, there isn't some huge mountain of money waiting for you to slowly take it out. State pension and many other pensions are down to government physically being able to pay them.

The privilege you have is drawing a UK state pension which you spend in another country. The EU means you can regardless of decisions national governments may wish to make. The EU works for you. Rather successfully looking at your claims.