David Cameron raises possibility of euro breakup
He told MPs: "That's the choice they have to make and it is a choice they can't long put off." His aides said later he had not made a mistake with his remarks, which Labour immediately pounced on, accusing the prime minister of stoking fears of a breakup, the Guardian reports.
Cameron's words followed a stark warning from the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, who said Britain's recovery was being hampered by a eurozone that was "tearing itself apart" and referred to a "storm heading our way from the continent".
Cameron's open questioning of the euro's future seemed to be at odds with comments made two days ago by George Osborne . The chancellor had criticised those such as the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who had raised speculation about Greece's continuing membership of the euro.
He said in Brussels: "It's the open speculation from some members of the eurozone about the future of some countries in the eurozone which I think is doing real damage across the whole European economy."
Aides said Cameron had discussed his comments in advance with Osborne, but stressed he was not predicting the breakup of the euro. "He would obviously rather it was 'make up'. There would be huge implications for us if it was the 'breakup' option," said one source close to the prime minister.
Aides declined to say whether the UK believed Greece should stay in the euro, insisting that was a matter for the Greek people to decide.
A spokesman said: "Who the Greeks elect as their government is completely a matter for them. I think the main political parties in Greece are all in favour of being in the euro."
Cameron revealed he would be holding a bilateral meeting with the new French president, François Hollande, ahead of a full G8 summit this weekend in Washington and that he had been in touch with King about contingency plans for a euro breakup.
The European commission continues to insist it is not contemplating a breakup or the loss of Greece from the euro.
The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said: "It's a shame [Cameron] didn't see the French president three months ago when he was in the United Kingdom ... but I'm sure, Mr Speaker, a text message and LOL will go down very well."
He said: "We are in a double-dip recession made in Downing Street."
But Cameron replied in reference to allegations of tantrums by the former prime minister Gordon Brown: "I have to admit that perhaps I've been overusing my mobile phone but at least as prime minister I know how to use a mobile phone rather than just throw it at the people who work for me."
He also said he looked forward to discussing measures that "could seriously add growth in Europe " such as the energy market, the digital market and the services single market, adding: "There will be common ground between the British view and the French view ... the French president does not back the Labour view that the way out of a debt crisis is to borrow more, spend more and add to your debts.
"What we need to have is the low interest rates that we have, because when the government came to power we had the same interest rates as Spain. Ours are now under 2%. Theirs are over 6%."
The prime minister welcomed the largest rise in employment in a year, adding he was not remotely complacent, saying there were too many people in part-time work that wanted full-time work.
He said: "The number of people on out-of-work benefits has fallen by 70,000 since the election but there are still challenges. We must go on investing in apprenticeships and the work programme."
Read more http://www.guardian.co.uk/
