Britain's Chancellor Osborne Resists Proposal Of Emergency Loans To Greece

After EU made announcements that Britain might have to pay up for Greek bailouts, Britain's Chancellor George Osborne hit back saying that the U.K. would not participate in such a move. He asked the Eurozone countries to “foot the bill” and termed the proposal a complete “non-starter” and also argued that making Britain liable for AU$2.10 billion of emergency loans to Greece was highly called for.

Telegraph UK reported that the move came as a shock to Britain as in the past Mr. Cameron had promised the taxpayers that they wouldn’t be ever exposed to Eurozone bailouts through an agreement ahead of a referendum in 2017. The decision has put British membership with EU at stake, which resulted in growing scepticism within EU ministers.

Mr. Osborne on arriving at a Brussels summit straight away mentioned about the deal that has been signed by Mr. Cameron regarding bailouts and insisted the Eurozone countries to not include Britain in the pay up. As Britain contribute almost 14 percent to the EU budget, this emergency loan would leave the U.K. tax payers at a default risk of AU$1772.48 million.

Meanwhile, Greece is yet to receive more than AU$127.48 billion bailout from European Stability Mechanism (ESM) that was set up in October 2012 by Eurozone states. The amount would take at at least a week to cash in, as the austerity measure package has to be signed by at least 12 European parliament. However, Greece would still need to gather AU$17.73 billion to cover its debts including a repayment of AU$6.21 billion to European Central Bank by Monday, which would otherwise result in a catastrophic banking collapse, reported Telegraph UK.

According to the Scotsman, in order to unilaterally veto the proposal raised by Eurozone finance ministers, Mr. Osborne would need the support of other member states. He pointed out that financial help mentioned in the treaties only favours to pay up for difficulties faced during Natural disasters or occurrences beyond ones reach.

Meanwhile, Alex Salmond, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman expressed his discontent over Britain’s move and asked to show some solidarity at this moment of crisis, reported the Scotsman. He warned the U.K. of reaping a bitter harvest for not extending its support and discouraging tourists from holidaying in Greece.

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