GUARDIAN – WINTOUR AND WATT BLOG: Former British ambassador to France says EU leaders are unamused by prime minister's advice on how to save the euro
David Cameron and George Osborne have decided to lecture the eurozone on what it needs to do to put its house in order.
In a video conference on Thursday with François Hollande and Angela Merkel, the prime minister decided to repeat his public warning of a "remorseless logic" that struggling members of a single currency should be supported by stronger members.
Sir John Holmes, Britain's former ambassador to France, told Radio 4's The World at One that EU leaders are unamused:
Other leaders find David Cameron's lectures rather irritating.Veterans of Britain's tortuous relationship with the EU say Cameron and Osborne are giving a masterclass in how to annoy France and Germany, the two most important powers in Europe. They say that the prime minister and chancellor are putting their short term political interests – a need to blame Britain's double dip recession on the eurozone's failings – before the British national interest of ensuring maximum influence in the EU. David Miliband told MPs on Thursday that the government was seeking to find an "alibi for the collapse of our economy". Read on and comment » | Nicholas Watt | Friday, May 18, 2012
