George Osborne’s allies may be filtering across government, but what of the man himself? He was at a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Paris
yesterday, and trying to maintain a difficult balance over the imploding eurozone. In part, our Chancellor was firm about Europe’s troubles — the area, he said, “remains the epicentre of
the world’s current economic problems,” and he urged its leaders to come up with something “quite impressive” at next weekend’s European Council meeting. But he also tried to sound
understanding — the UK, he suggested, would consider shuffling more cash into the IMF’s bailout account.
The offer of more funding for the IMF was arresting — but it’s uncertain what it will come to, or whether it will come to anything at all. Osborne himself stressed that the money could be “no substitute” for concerted action on the part of the eurozone countries, and his people are putting it about that it won’t actually be needed if Europe acts adequately. But, even with these caveats, it’s still the sort of offer that will put Tory backbenchers into a cold sweat. There was, don’t forget, a swell of parliamentary disgruntlement when the matter of our IMF quota came up earlier this year.
And then there’s the likelihood that the IMF will itself keep pushing for more cash over the next few months and years. Its boss, Chistine Lagarde, is minded towards bailing out the eurozone — and she has been holding out the begging bowl, for that purpose, ever since taking charge of the organisation. In which case, you can expect a debate about the IMF, its size and its role, to rumble on throughout Europe’s crisis.
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