In a Spectator interview back in 1990, Nicholas Ridley had this to say on the subject of the EU and the Germans (emphasis mine) :

I was still taken aback by the vehemence of Mr Ridley’s views on the matter of Europe, and in particular the role of Germany. It had seemed a topical way to engage his thoughts, since the day after we met, Herr Klaus-Otto Pohl, the president of the Bundesbank, was visiting England to preach the joys of a joint European monetary policy.

‘This is all a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe. It has to be thwarted. This rushed take-over by the Germans on the worst possible basis, with the French behaving like poodles to the Germans, is absolutely intolerable.’

‘Excuse me, but in what way are moves toward monetary union “The Germans trying to take over the whole of Europe”?’

‘The deutschmark is always going to be the strongest currency, because of their habits.’

‘But Mr Ridley, it’s surely not axiomatic that the German currency will always be the strongest…?’

‘It’s because of the Germans.‘

‘But the European Community is not just the Germans.’

Mr Ridley turned his fire – he was, as usual, smoking heavily – on to the organisation as a whole.

‘When I look at the institutions to which it is proposed that sovereignty is to be handed over, I’m aghast. Seventeen unelected reject politicians’ – that includes you, Sir Leon – ‘with no accountability to anybody, who are not responsible for raising taxes, just spending money, who are pandered to by a supine parliament which also is not responsible for raising taxes, already behaving with an arrogance I find breathtaking – the idea that one says, “OK, we’ll give this lot our sovereignty” is unacceptable to me. I’m not against giving up sovereignty in principle, but not to this lot. You might just as well give it to Adolf Hitler, frankly.’

He ended up getting the sack for that.

Just a shame he didn’t live long enough to see his predictions come to life as in yesterday’s Irish Daily Mirror (yes it’s that one again but it isn’t something you expect to see everyday) :