George Osborne: European leaders must act quickly to secure financial markets

George Osborne: European leaders must act quickly to secure financial markets

George Osborne: European leaders must act quickly to secure financial markets

George Osborne, chancellor, urges European leaders to work hard at stabilising the euro in a speech at the Daily Telegraph Festival of Business in Manchester:

"I will be looking for my European colleagues to send a clear signal that they truly recognise the gravity of the situation and that they are dealing with it.

"Let us take no relish at all from their problems. Let's have no schadenfreude. A successful euro is massively in Britain's national interests.

"Time is short and the Eurozone must now implement as quickly as possible their July 21 agreement, resolve the uncertainty with respect to Greece, specify how they intend to fulfil the commitment made at last week's G7 meeting to take all necessary actions to ensure the resilience of banking systems and financial markets.

"Crucially, my European colleagues need to accept the remorseless logic of monetary union that leads from a single currency to greater fiscal integration."