My fellow monkey, Shane Barry, is exercised by Irish politician Mary O’Rourke’s “working like blacks” comment.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear: Come to Poland! Listen to these pearls of wisdom from Andrzej Lepper, leader of the Samoobrona party, and a man not long ago considered a political pariah but now moving closer and closer to the centre of power:

“The most dangerous nation for the Poles is the Jewish nation. They are everywhere. They are plotting intrigues everywhere.” (Nowiny, 18th Dec. 1995)

“Samoobrona is the hammer of God for what is happening in Poland. It’s not enough that Balcerowicz must go; he must spend the rest of his days in a work camp.” (Samoobrona Congress, 7th April 2002)

Balcerowicz is a neoliberal technocrat like – as Beatroot points out – everyone in Europe’s central banks. And, to show that the markets even have the power to reign in a raging anti-semite, here’s a more recent quote from Lepper:

“He [Balcerowicz] doesn’t have to go at all. He does what the law says, and he does it well. Any economist would do the same in his place.” (Puls Biznesu, 18th Nov. 2005)

The above Lepper quotes were gathered together in Nie magazine, Jan 12th 2006.