Our Submarine Chancellor has bobbed to the surface today, and to perform a fairly
important function: explain Britain’s position in relation to the sinking eurozone. Here, harvested from his appearances on the Today Programme and in the House, is my five-point guide
to what that position is:
1) Yesterday was only a start. Not for Osborne the “new day” hyperbole of the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou. No, the Chancellor has been more cautious about the Eurodeal struck last night — and rightly so. Although he did say in the Commons that “The deal put together is much better than was expected yesterday afternoon,” he did hasten to add that “much detail remains unresolved.” More specifically, Osborne believes that particular progress has been made on recapitalising Europe’s banks, but that more needs to be done to effect the write-down of Greek debt.
2) The underlying problems in Europe. Osborne’s performance on the Today programme contained a neat summary of those broader dilemmas that Stephanie Flanders was discussing, in
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