David Ruffley
Main Page: David Ruffley (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)Department Debates - View all David Ruffley's debates with the HM Treasury
(14 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Osborne
I am not going to give a specific figure today, because it simply has not been agreed as part of the overall package with the Irish. In these situations, it is perfectly normal for the sovereign Government, in this case the Irish, to invite the IMF and the EU in and to ask for their help, and for that to be negotiated over the following week or two. Of course, we will be part of that, but as I say, I expect the UK’s support to be in the billions, not the tens of billions.
Mr David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)
If it requires a treaty change to create a new permanent bail-out mechanism, will the UK Government be prepared to use their veto?
Mr Osborne
We have made it clear that we would accept a treaty change—of the kind that, for example, Germany is talking about—only if it created a eurozone bail-out mechanism that we were not part of, and of course a treaty change requires unanimity.