THE TELEGRAPH: Alistair Darling has agreed to consult directly with George Osborne and Vince Cable as European leaders looked poised to push through a new multi-billion pound bail-out fund part-financed by British taxpayers.
Mr Darling, who is still officially Chancellor of the Exchequer, will represent Britain at an extraordinary meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels today, slated to adopt far-reaching new powers for the Commission and its fellow bodies.
The meeting is the first major policy test for the hung parliament, coming with Britain in limbo between two governments. In a sign of the highly unusual nature of the situation, the Chancellor has privately committed to consulting before the meeting with his counterparts in the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
However, despite the likelihood that Labour will be ejected from Downing Street imminently, Mr Darling will have the final say over Britain's vote on participation in the new scheme.
The proposal, tabled by Nicolas Sarkozy in an emergency meeting late on Friday night, will involve the creation of a €60bn "European stabilisation mechanism" designed to provide bail-out support for countries which may face similar strain to Greece in the coming months.
It is thought to be focused particularly on Spain and Portugal, both of whose leaders fear an assault by "bond vigilantes" in the market who have scented weakness within the eurozone. The plan will have fiscal implication for all European Union countries, including the UK. The key element is an extension of an existing bail-out package, already used to support Hungary and Latvia. >>> Edmund Conway and Bruno Waterfield | Saturday, May 08, 2010
