Andrea Leadsom
Main Page: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)Department Debates - View all Andrea Leadsom's debates with the Cabinet Office
(12 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Prime Minister
The difference between the situation in this country, where we face great economic challenges, and countries in the eurozone is that we have been able to adopt a policy stance that, yes, combines a very tight fiscal policy with difficult public spending reductions, but can also be accompanied by a loose monetary policy, with the Bank of England standing behind the economy. The problem for many eurozone countries is that they do not have that policy mix. That is making life difficult for them, and I fully understand that. They want to stay in the euro; they want to make the euro work. Whatever our private views about the euro, we should do what we can to help them get on with the job of sorting out the single currency and its arrangements, because it is currently having such a bad effect on our economy.
Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)
Can the Prime Minister reassure the House that in exercising his veto, exhorting the eurozone to sort out its financial crisis and promoting growth through the single market, he is acting in Britain’s national interests? Does he also share my concern that the Leader of the Opposition does not seem to know where Britain’s interests lie?
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend is right. At the end of the day, we have to decide whether we are going to agree to this treaty or not. The fact is that every European country had to make that decision, and we have made ours. I repeat that it is in our national interest for the eurozone to deal with its problems, to keep this treaty focused on fiscal union and then to maximise the potential of the single market. I think that Britain should be relaxed about being in those parts of Europe where we want action—just as we are a leading member of NATO, and just as we led that action in Libya—but that we should quite happily stay out of areas that we do not feel are in our interests, such as the Schengen no-borders agreement or the euro.