Douglas Carswell's Blog

Two Chancellors, many bail outs, more questions

The Prime Minister told the Commons today that he and his team had opposed the Euro bail out Mechanism deal negotiated by Alistair Darling, the out going Chancellor, last May. He was repeating what the Chancellor, George Osborne, told me when he said he had opposed it.

Yet Treasury minister, Justine Greening, sent MPs a memo on July 15th last year that stated "whilst agreement on behalf of the UK was given by the previous administration, cross-party consensus had been gained".

They cannot all be right. We need clarification.

Why does this matter so much? The �6.2 Billion we've struggled to save to try to close the deficit has been wiped out by the bail out liabilities for Ireland. They'd be washed away by any Portugal or Spanish bail out.

The small print put in front of Treasury ministers might have looked pretty small the day after taking office. It's pretty monumental today.

The Treasury needs to explain. And fast.

It is now vital that the Chancellor respond to my FoI request to publish the official advice he and others were given on coming to office.

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