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BROWN'S BORROWING ATTACKED BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Wednesday 7th April 2004
The European Commission will today criticise the British Government for breaching the Stability and Growth Pact, the rules governing the single currency. Although Britain is outside the Euro zone, all EU members are supposed to obey the rules as laid out in the Pact.
Timothy Kirkhope, Conservative MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
"Gordon Brown is now borrowing so much he is outside both the Stability Pact and the Maastricht criteria. Borrowing at these massive levels is bad for our economy and will inevitably mean tax rises from Labour in the future.
Today's decision by the European Commission is further clear evidence that Mr Brown is a "borrow now, tax later" Chancellor. It's a good thing we're outside the Euro or we'd be facing massive fines from the EU over this."
