IMF

John Baron Excerpts

Monday 23rd April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

I am not sure if that is a request for more money to the IMF. As I made clear in the statement, the non-euro countries felt it was appropriate that the euro countries made a proportionately bigger contribution. That is why France, for example, has given $40 billion. In the past, because Britain has exactly the same quota shareholding as France, we would have given the same. We have not. Our $15 billion is almost exactly the same as the $15 billion loan made at the London G20 summit. I think it is proportionate to the eurozone effort. I cannot believe that the hon. Gentleman, as a former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, really supports the shadow Chancellor’s position of opposing Britain being part of a global deal to increase IMF resources.

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

I am sure the Chancellor will agree that until the core cause of the crisis is solved or at least approached—that being a lack of competitiveness—additional borrowing in a crisis caused by excessive borrowing already is simply reinforcing failure. Is the Chancellor at all concerned that for the 50 nations that he mentioned, devaluation was always an option—an option that has always been available to IMF rescue packages, but is not available to countries inside the eurozone?

[Mr Osborne]

My hon. Friend is right that countries in the eurozone do not have the option of devaluation if they want to remain in the eurozone. That is the logic of the single currency. That is why the Foreign Secretary, when he was leader of our party, said that it was

“a burning building with no exits”.

In that situation the question for Britain, rather than for members of the eurozone, is what do we do? What we can do is make sure that the global institutions that try to protect the world from instability, that try to provide shock absorbers for what happens in different countries, including in the eurozone, are well resourced to deal with whatever is thrown at them. I say to my hon. Friend and to Members across the House that it is possible to be very, very Eurosceptic and at the same time to be a believer in the international institutions that Britain helped to create 60 years ago.