Anglo-French relationship? Perhaps not

Fearful UK banks have today withdrawn billions of pounds out of the floundering French economy in a move which will surely bring into question any future Anglo-French relations. The total figure withdrawn was believed to be $29.3billion and prompted France’s central bank chief Christian Noyer to launch a scything attack on the British economy. During this attack he said, “The economic situation in Britain today is very worrying, and you’d rather be French rather than British in economic terms”. Noyer also called for the rating agencies to strip the UK of its triple-A credit rating in a move which would spell economic disaster for the coalition government.

Best of enemies

But, where has this money gone? The answer is of course the ultra conservative and safe governments of Germany and the Netherlands ($40.3billion and $21.1billion respectively). Along with the money from France a combined $20billion has also been pulled out of Spain and Italy signifying the UK’s intent to try and improve their financial situation as quickly as possible. Although likely to ease the financial pressure in the UK, the latest figures released by the Bank of England are unlikely to improve the already frosty relationship between France and Britain. This relationship, which is already tense due to David Cameron’s refusal to sign the European summit deal a week ago, will certainly come under some scrutiny over the next few months as the future of the EU is put into question.