IMF

Barry Gardiner Excerpts

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I would say that it is to make sure that the fire brigade has enough water to deal with the problem.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

The IMF should be plan B; plan A should be the European Central Bank. Does the Chancellor not accept that until the ECB properly backs the euro, the only people who will welcome more money coming in through the IMF are the traders who are making much money by picking off the peripheral countries around Europe as they go from one to the other?

[Mr Osborne]

Since December, the ECB has provided €1 trillion in its long-term repo operation, so it has provided a lot of support, most of which has been used by some of the eurozone banks to stop them falling over. The ECB has taken action, but the Prime Minister, myself and other members of the Government have in public, as well as in private—but in public—over the last six months, urged the ECB to do more; urged that greater fiscal transfers take place. On many of those things the ECB has made a lot of progress since the autumn. There is a much bigger eurozone firewall. As I say, the ECB, which was not in the game at all last autumn, has now provided €1 trillion of liquidity, so it has made those contributions, and therefore the rest of the world, as well as the UK, thought it appropriate that we should make sure that the IMF is well resourced.