Nicolas Sarkozy Says Britain Has 'No Industry'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Nicolas Sarkozy has stated Britain is a country with "no industry" as he set out "shock measures" to reinvigorate France's faltering economy.

Mr Sarkozy announced he would increase VAT by 1.6 per cent. When a journalist made the point that there had been an increase in prices in Britain after VAT rises, Mr Sarkozy claimed: "The United Kingdom has no industry anymore."

A UK official said: “It is not true. The percentage of GDP that is manufacturing is11 per cent, the same as in France.”

Manufacturing as a percentage of GDP was 11 per cent in the UK and in France in 2009, the last comparable figures.

“UK industrial production as a share of GDP was 15 per cent, compared to 12.5 per cent in France in the same year. What he said is not true. He has got an election.”

Defending his efforts to save the euro and the French economy, Mr Sarkozy said: “The financial crisis is calming down. Europe is no longer on the edge of the abyss...The elements of a stabilisation of the financial situation in the world and in Europe are in place.”

Mr Sarkozy all but announced his candidacy for the two-round election, due to be held on April 22 and May 6. “I have a rendezvous with the French,” he said. “I will not shirk my responsibility.”

But the uncharacteristically downbeat president admitted to having "regrets" about some of his policies, which he said he would address "at the appropriate time".

His remarks came a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany backed his — as yet unannounced — re-election bid by unexpectedly announcing that she would join him on the campaign trail.

In a hour-long “do or die” TV interview broadcast simultaneously by nine channels, Mr Sarkozy adopted Churchillian tones as he unveiled measures from reducing working time and salaries to save jobs to raising VAT in order to cut employers’ contributions by €13 billion (£11 billion). However, the man who staked his presidency on boosting the French economy faces a tough task as he lags in the polls, unemployment stands at a 12-year high and public debt is at record levels. Read on and comment » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, January 30, 2012

David Cameron: Economic Measures Will 'Change Our Way of Life'
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has warned that his plans to tackle Britain's economic woes will affect the way we live for decades.



In a keynote speech on the economy, the Prime Minister said that the economic situation he had inherited from Labour was worse than he expected.

If drastic cuts were not implemented, the Treasury would be spending an annual £70 billion on debt interest within five years - more than on schools in England, transport, and fighting climate change put together, he said.

Speaking alongside new Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, Mr Cameron told an audience in Milton Keynes that now the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition had been given access to the books, it was clear that the ''overall scale of the problem is even worse than we thought''.

''How we deal with these things will affect our economy, our society - indeed our whole way of life,'' he said.

''The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country. And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years, perhaps decades, to come.

''It is precisely because these decisions are so momentous, because they will have such enormous implications, and because we cannot afford either to duck them or to get them wrong that I want to make sure we go about the urgent task of cutting our deficit in a way that is open, responsible and fair,'' he said. >>> | Monday, June 07, 2010

Britain to Emulate Canada's Radical Solution to Tackle Debt
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: George Osborne is planning to eradicate Britain's budget deficit by emulating Canada, where borrowing was brought under control within just three years by spending cuts of 20 per cent.

The Chancellor will announce a "once-in-a-generation" revolution in public spending inspired by Canada in the mid-1990s, when the government turned a budget deficit of nine per cent of GDP into a surplus.

Canada brought public spending under control guided by the principle that people should ask "what needs to be done by government and what we can afford to do".

Mr Osborne and his Liberal Democrat deputy, Danny Alexander, will attempt to bring about a similar change of mindset in Britain.

The ambitious plan will be welcomed by those who believe swift and decisive action is necessary to bring Britain's budget deficit and spiralling national debt under control quickly.

However, it is likely to prove controversial with those who believe it could tip Britain back into recession and public sector workers who face losing their jobs. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Sunday, June 06, 2010