Liam Fox told the Spectator that Germany risks becoming the world’s biggest cash machine after Brexit because it may end up paying for a failing European Union that is in danger of imploding:

“If I were a German politician I would be worried that, without Britain, Germany has the potential to become the greatest ATM in global history.”

They’ve figured this out for themselves…

Of the 28 current members of the EU it may surprise co-conspirators to learn that only 12 countries were net contributors. Ireland has become the the thirteenth net contributor for the first time since it joined in 1973, hitherto it has been a net beneficiary to the order of €50 billion. Expect Irish attitudes to the EU to change as that equation changes.

Even after Margaret Thatcher’s rebate, Britain was the second biggest contributor to the EU’s budget. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble had his ministry’s experts calculate what Brexit would mean for Germany’s federal budget. As a result of the European Commission’s budget contribution equation, Germany’s share of the overall economic strength of the EU would rise from today’s 21% to 25%. Thus the German taxpayers’ share of the EU budget will rise by about €4.5 billion a year in 2019/20. How do you like them apfels?