Osborne: Those Claiming Britain Is Isolated In Europe Are The Same People Who Wanted To Join The Euro

Osborne: Only Former Euro Enthusiasts Are Claiming The UK Is Now Isolated

The Chancellor George Osborne has claimed those who believe Britain's veto of an EU financial treaty will leave the UK isolated in Europe were the same people who wanted Britain to join the Euro in the first place.

In a robust defence of David Cameron being the first British prime minister to veto a potential European treaty, George Osborne told Today on BBC Radio 4: "I just think some people are surprised that a British prime minister has done exactly what he said he would do.

"We have protected Britain's financial services and manufacturing companies... from the development of eurozone integration spilling over and affecting non-members of the European union.

"Those 26 countries are either in the Euro or want to join the Euro. Those people who say were are isolated are the same people who wanted us to join the Euro."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, David Cameron and the Chancellor have the support of the majority of Fleet Street in rejecting a European treaty, but the criticism by the Financial Times (FT) is significant.

Earlier on the same radio programme Lionel Barber, editor of the FT, said the veto had achieved very little in terms of advancing Britain's national interests.

"It's not clear to me that the PM has gained anything," he said. "The City remains vulnerable. We are talking about banking supervision, capital rations, the insurance industry."

Suggesting that the prime minister had vetoed the treaty because it would have split his own party and destroyed the coalition, Barber said: "The fact now is that because the PM has chosen this course, we are completely on our own. There are 26 other countries that are prepared to go along. It's not clear to me why the PM has decided at this stage to wield the veto. He could have waited.

"At some point, and I have good grounds to believe this, we're going to have to come back into the negotiating room."

But George Osborne insisted that the UK had gained from Cameron's rejection of the treaty, saying: "What we gained in return is that the integration of the Eurozone is not taking place within the full panoply of the European treaties. Because we were unable to get British safeguards, we're not allowing that to happen.

Of course we're constantly in the negotiation room on things that matter to Britain as part of the single market. What we have protected is that when the single market is discussed it has to be done by all 27 members of the EU.

"I think we've demonstrated that when we need to, we'll fight for Britain's interests. Where we need to cooperate with our allies in Europe we will do so."

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