Britain won’t fund another bailout, Chancellor tells G20

Speaking as finance ministers meet in Mexico for the G20 summit, the Chancellor said extra funds would not be handed over until countries that use the struggling single currency commit resources themselves.

Mr Osborne said: “We are prepared to consider IMF resources, but only once we see the colour of eurozone money, and we have not seen this.

“I don’t think you’re going to see any extra resources committed here, because eurozone countries have not committed additional resources themselves, and I think that quid-pro-quo will be clearly established here in Mexico City.”

The Chancellor also refused to reveal if he would be increasing the personal tax allowance to £10,000 at next month’s Budget.

“Any tax cut would have to be paid for… What we are not going to do in the Budget is borrow any more money to either increase spending or cut taxes,” he said.

“We can’t have any deficit finance measure in that sense, because getting the budget deficit down, which is now happening, is an incredibly important part of keeping economic stability in Britain.”

Mr Osborne said the eurozone crisis “remains probably the biggest source of global instability” and was probably going to be the “centrepiece” of the G20 discussions.

Referring to the Liberal Democrats’ ambition to bring in a mansion tax or increase the number of council tax bands, he said: “We have already taken measures to make sure the tax system is fairer.

“I increased capital gains tax for wealthier people in my first Budget, and I’ve taken action on stamp-duty avoidance; that’s something we’re definitely looking very closely at now.

“These are wealthy people who just avoid stamp duty when they buy or sell a home; that’s something that I’ve made very clear is unacceptable.”

Asked if he thought the 50p tax rate should stay, the Chancellor said the tax returns had only just been received from the first year of the 50p tax rate.

TOM LAWRENCE