Tuesday 19 April 2011

David Cameron Blocks Gordon Brown as Head of IMF

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron will block Gordon Brown's attempts to head up the International Monetary Fund after criticising his handling of the financial crisis.

In a direct attack on the former Prime Minister, Mr Cameron said his predecessor was not the "most appropriate person" to lead the IMF because he would not admit the UK had a "debt problem".

Mr Brown is reportedly hoping to take on the £270,000-a-year role but he must first be nominated by the Government.

“If you have someone who didn’t think we had a debt problem (running the IMF) they may not be the best person to decide whether other countries have that problem," he said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He added that the role needed to be filled by “someone who understands the dangers of excessive spending.”

And in a clear signal that Britain would block Mr Brown if stood for the job, Mr Cameron suggested the position should be filled by a candidate from “China, India or south east Asia.” » | Andrew Porter and James Kirkup | Tuesday, April 19, 2011