IMF

Debate between George Osborne and Malcolm Rifkind

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I do not want to speculate about any future programmes that might, or might not, be required. What I want to do is make sure that the IMF is able to deal with whatever is thrown at it. That is massively in Britain’s national interest. We are talking about the source of 40% of the exports made by the businesses and factories of the constituencies we represent. For us to walk away from that at the moment would be bizarre. Does the eurozone need to do more? Yes, it does need to do more. For instance, as the former Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling), said, it needs to sort out the problems in its banking system, and it needs to make sure that the programmes that countries have been asked to embark upon are deliverable, but that is not an excuse for Britain not to take part in a global effort to support the IMF.

[Sir Malcolm Rifkind (Kensington) (Con)]

I suspect that on this occasion Members on both sides of the House will have found the shadow Chancellor’s remarks to have been profoundly unconvincing. Does the Chancellor agree that the purpose of these funds is to assist in the restoration of the eurozone economy, the recovery of which is profoundly in our own interests? Does he also agree that the IMF must use all the powers at its disposal to ensure a rigorous application of its rules to those eurozone countries that are in trouble, in order to ensure that the mistakes that were made when the single currency was first formed are not repeated?

[Mr Osborne]

I completely agree with the former Foreign Secretary. The agreement at the weekend is about ensuring that the IMF is fully resourced to deal with whatever is thrown at it. Of course, if problems were to emerge and future programmes were to be required, there would be an enormous amount of scrutiny of what those programmes would consist of, what the conditions would be, and the like, but what we would not want at such a time, when the markets would no doubt be incredibly febrile and when confidence in Britain and other countries would be evaporating, is a question mark hanging over whether the IMF has got the money to solve the problem. That is why countries from around the world have decided to make this contribution.