Oral Answers to Questions

David Nuttall Excerpts

Tuesday 6th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

Yes.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the financial crisis in the eurozone.

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

12. What recent assessment he has made of the financial crisis in the eurozone.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

The financial crisis in the eurozone is extremely serious. Fortunately, Britain is not in the euro; unfortunately, however, we are not immune to the instability on our doorstep. The euro area must implement its policy commitments to address the crisis, made most recently at the July summit. As I have said, the euro area should follow the remorseless logic of monetary union with greater fiscal integration. We must ensure that we are not part of that integration and that our national interests are protected and promoted at all points.

[Mr Nuttall]

I thank the Chancellor for that reply. Given that the crisis in the eurozone was caused by some member states having too much debt, would it not be a good idea—rather than increasing those debts with further bail-outs—for this country to press for the European treaties to be amended to allow a country to leave the euro while remaining in the European Union if it still wished to do so? As things stand, that is not possible.

[Mr Osborne]

As my hon. Friend knows, the treaty does not provide for a member state to leave at the moment, and there is no immediate prospect of major treaty renegotiation—something that the German Government have made very clear again this week. In other words, we need to focus on the task at hand, which is implementing all the agreements, communiqués and commitments made in recent months by the eurozone. That is absolutely crucial to the stability not just of the eurozone but of the wider global economy.