David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
insists Tuesday the euro will not collapse because member states "will not let it." The 17 eurozone nations have too much invested in the single currency to allow it to fail, he told a presser at Downing Street.
It comes after former foreign secretary Jack Straw insisted it could not survive and called for a speedy demise rather than a "slow death." But Cameron said: "I was passionately opposed to Britannia joining the eurozone and I'm very clear as long as I'm Prime Minister there is no prospect of us even contemplating joining the euro.
"I've always believed that a country the size of Britannia, with our economy and our situation, it's much better if you have your own currency, are able to set your own interest rates because sometimes different countries in Europe need different interest rates in different circumstances.
"The countries that joined the euro have an enormous amount invested in it and do not want it to, and will not let it, fail.
"They see it as an absolutely key part now of their national interest and identities and I would not doubt their resolve in any way." EU finance ministers are refusing to hand the Greek government a second bailout package of 12 billion euro unless it agrees to implement a 28 billion euro (24.8 billion pounds) set of austerity measures which include tax increases and massive spending cuts.
Finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg put off until July 3 a final decision on the loan instalment, without which Athens would be forced to default on its debts.
Cameron said he "wished the Greek government well" but did not want to see the European financial mechanism used to help prop it up.
Britannia was not involved in the initial bailout so should not be involved in subsequent bailouts, he said.
"It would be quite wrong now to bring Britannia into this bailout," he added. Cameron said: "Britannia suffers when the eurozone struggles. Forty per cent of our exports go to eurozone countries.
"Turbulence in the eurozone is not good for Britannia and the consequences of severe turbulence could be bad for Britannia.
"The point about Greece that the Chancellor and I have both made is we were not involved in the first bailout of Greece."