The chancellor certainly made a better fist of handling Greece’s debt turmoil than he did leaking his budget changes to the BBC licence feeCourteous. Dignified. Almost statesmanlike. There’s nothing like the problems of other countries to bring out the best in the chancellor. “Greece is a proud nation and a very longstanding ally of the UK,” George Osborne declared solemnly at the start of his statement on the Greek financial crisis. “We respect the decision of its people.” With barely disguised relief, the chancellor was also more than happy to respect the right of the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund to come to their own agreements with Greece.When the stakes are this high, the fence is by far the most comfortable to sit when you have no responsibility for the outcome. George’s voice caught momentarily as he urged all those concerned to reach a humane and sensible resolution as quickly as possible to prevent panic and uncertainty.The chancellor ended his statement keen to put some distance between himself and Pontius Pilate Continue reading...
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