Greece: Default Contingency

Lord Flight Excerpts

Monday 20th June 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Sassoon]

I am happy to confirm that Greece is a relatively small part of the euro area but, as we have already identified this afternoon, Greece is interconnected, as are all the European and global financial markets. Therefore, one should not in any way trivialise the Greek situation and the capacity for difficulties in the markets.

That said, it is also important to be clear about the lines around whether the UK should or should not be involved in these matters. We are not a member of the eurozone; we are not going into the eurozone; and we are not going to make any preparations to enter the eurozone in the lifetime of this Government, this Parliament. We must make sure that, on the one hand, we are not part of any ongoing and permanent support mechanism for the eurozone; at the same time, we have to play a full part to ensure that the eurozone economic governance is fit for purpose.

[Lord Flight]

Does my noble friend agree that if relatively less or more successful countries or economic areas are to share a currency, there is a requirement for substantial ongoing transfer payments, as is the case within the US and even within the UK? Secondly, does he by any chance know roughly what proportion of Britain's exports to the eurozone are to what I would call hard northern Europe, compared to softer southern Europe?

[Lord Sassoon]

I am not able off the top of my head to break down the analysis of our exports, and I am not quite sure where my noble friend would draw the line between hard and soft. The critical point here is that more than 40 per cent of our exports go into the eurozone. Of course, they are generally distributed in relation to the size of economies, with Ireland, as we discussed in relation to the Irish package, having for historical reasons a disproportionately large share. My noble friend makes the point that it is absolutely in the UK's interest to ensure that the eurozone economies are successful, because that is where the largest part of our exports go.