Lord Harrison
Main Page: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Harrison's debates with the HM Treasury
(13 years ago)
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Lord Sassoon
I very much agree with my noble friend. The IMF’s lending programmes are indeed conditional on programmes of that kind.
Lord Harrison
Given the fact that we help our fellow European countries in the contribution that we have made to Ireland, the IMF and the EFSM, what is the philosophical and practical difference between contributing to the EFSF—which is not wholly confined to the euro 17—and contributing to the future EFSM or, for that matter, any other acronym that may come along to help?
Lord Sassoon
It would be unproductive to be drawn into the history of the arrangements that the previous Government committed this country to, but we could go into that if noble Lords want to. This Government are completely clear: we will support the IMF on a bipartisan and all-party basis, as we have always done since its inception. It must be for the eurozone countries to put in place their mechanisms for future support.