Latest George Osborne Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• British taxpayers should not bear the costs of problems in the Eurozone.

  George Osborne

  Cost, Bears, Problem

  Source: www.economist.com

• Establishing proper economic governance that allows the Eurozone to undertake the integration it needs whilst protecting the interests of the single market for all 28, the rights of member states who are not in the Euro - including of course the UK - is really important for the future of the European Union.

  George Osborne

  Rights, Important, Needs

  Source: www.economist.com

• Britain should not be forced to make a choice between joining the single currency and leaving the EU, because if we're forced to make that choice we would leave the EU.

  George Osborne

  Choices, Leaving, Joining

  Source: www.economist.com

• Britain is not part of the single currency. That is a decision we have taken, a voluntary decision of this country, but as a result are part of a European Union 19 of whose members are rapidly integrating, creating political, fiscal, monetary, economic union to make their currency work. And that is increasingly rubbing up against the operation.

  George Osborne

  Country, Taken, Creating

  Source: www.economist.com

• Britain wants the single currency to be a success. It is massively in our interests that we have a stable financial system on our doorstep.

  George Osborne

  Want, Financial, Currency

  Source: www.economist.com

• I think essentially if you look at British public debate around the issues of our interconnectedness with the global economy you do not find a ready audience, of any large scale, for pulling up the shutters.

  George Osborne

  Thinking, Issues, Looks

  Source: www.economist.com

• Britain cannot afford to cut itself off from what is going on in the world, we are too interconnected with what is going on, we have a powerful history and tradition of taking an interest in what is going on in the world, we've also got a very real interest in the future, in remaining connected.

  George Osborne

  Powerful, Real, Cutting

  Source: www.economist.com

• I am actually quite encouraged and I think, actually, the UK is coping with globalisation a lot better than most other European countries. And that is reflected in the fact that (whilst of course there are people who are still unemployed) our unemployment rate is low and (whilst of course we need to export more) we are attracting a huge amount of inward investment into Britain.

  George Osborne

  Country, Thinking, People

  Source: www.economist.com

• I'm not saying "job done" but I am actually pretty confident that Britain can be one of the biggest winners from these big global changes that are taking place and indeed become the richest of the major economies in the world in this coming generation.

  George Osborne

  Jobs, Generations, Done

  Source: www.economist.com

• Just as it wouldn't be right to only to have an economic dialogue with China, equally you shouldn't restrict your dialogue solely to issues around, say, human rights. You can raise all those issues, and that is what reflects a mature discussion. So I don't think essentially we have to choose between being partners in China's economic development and being proud defenders of British values.

  George Osborne

  Thinking, Issues, Rights

  Source: www.economist.com

• I see no real argument in Britain that is concerned that an Indian company owns our most successful car manufacturer or that the sewer system under London is being renewed in part by Chinese investment. There are the odd voices that express concern but they are very marginal and they are not being listened to by the British people.

  George Osborne

  Real, Successful, Voice

  Source: www.economist.com

• I think Britain needs to get out there on the world stage and make itself heard. And for much of my political career, there has been a sense of retreat from the world stage because of what happened in the Iraq War.

  George Osborne

  War, Thinking, Careers

  Source: www.economist.com

• What I'm interested in is Britain projecting itself abroad, and through that its values and the things it holds dear. And I don't think you do that by refusing to talk to the world's second-largest economy [China]. In fact, that is positively counter-productive in my view.

  George Osborne

  Thinking, Views, World

  Source: www.economist.com

• The Foreign Office is a very important arm of the British state and I think Britain has a fantastic diplomatic service. We are the only country in the world spending 2% of our national income on defence and 0.7% of our national income on aid. We are the only country in the world doing both of those things.

  George Osborne

  Country, Thinking, Office

  Source: www.economist.com

• Even a China growing at 7% or indeed less is still adding to the world economy an economy equivalent to the UK or more.

  George Osborne

  World, Growing, Economy

  Source: www.economist.com

• I think it is absolutely central to our economic plan as a country not only that we put our own house in order but that we better connect ourselves with other parts of the world, particularly the faster growing parts of the world.

  George Osborne

  Country, Thinking, Order

  Source: www.economist.com

• I think we woefully failed to connect Britain to the growing Chinese economy in the previous decade, and I have sought to remedy that. China is now the sixth biggest trading partner with the UK. We have attracted now the lion's share of Chinese investment that is going into Europe.

  George Osborne

  Thinking, Europe, Chinese

  Source: www.economist.com

• China is absolutely one of the biggest players in the world and if Britain wants to be connected to the world it has to be connected to China.

  George Osborne

  Player, Want, World

  Source: www.economist.com

• At the moment we are hard-wired into the European markets - 50% of our exports go to Europe - and that has not been good for the UK. So I'm not saying "make Britain entirely dependent on China". I'm saying "let's diversify a bit". When I became chancellor, China was our ninth largest trading partner. This is the world's second biggest economy. China was doing more business with Belgium than it was with Britain.

  George Osborne

  Europe, World, Moments

  Source: www.economist.com

• Britain is China's best partner in the West.

  George Osborne

  West, Britain, Partners

  Source: www.economist.com

• What's interesting is whilst Shanghai has gone stellar - literally, in these massive buildings which have appeared since I first visited - Beijing has become a much more vibrant and interesting place. A lot more business is done here.

  George Osborne

  Interesting, Gone, Done

  Source: www.economist.com

• Each time I come it's amazing to watch the development of this incredible country [China].

  George Osborne

  Country, Development, Watches

  Source: www.economist.com

• I find China such a fascinating and interesting country. Each time I come back something has changed and it's moved on in leaps and bounds.

  George Osborne

  Country, Interesting, Moved On

  Source: www.economist.com

• We should be looking at putting a limit on the interest that can be charged on things like store cards.You don't want to end up with totally draconian credit controls but you want some common sense. We want cooling-off periods for store cards so people can't take them out and go straight to the counter and buy things.

  George Osborne

  People, Common Sense, Cards

  "The Big Interview Transcript: George Osborne". Interview With Martin Lewis, blog.moneysavingexpert.com. March 16, 2010.

• There are a lot of examples where people aren't getting the right information. We could do a lot more with credit card bills so people properly understand that if you pay off the minimum it could take you 41 years to pay off is that right.

  George Osborne

  Years, People, Example

  Source: blog.moneysavingexpert.com