Gordon Brown leads and the rest follow
A gathering of European leaders in Brussels has today taken a rather surprising turn with France and Germany backing Gordon Brown's one-off super-tax on UK banking bonuses. This takes us back to the time when Gordon Brown decided to use taxpayer's money to take stakes in ailing banks in the UK, a strategy which was taken on by a number of European counterparts. However, it is worth recalling that after initial enthusiasm for Gordon Brown's share investment he soon became a scapegoat for European leaders after the deals went sour!
It is also believed that Gordon Brown has held talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy with his recent comments regarding the UK stock market and investment markets sure to be top of the agenda. Many people believe that Gordon Brown has been "hoodwinked" and manipulated by his European counterparts having taken on the EU foreign office ministry only to find that the French had backtracked on an earlier deal and taken on the all-powerful EU finance ministry.
It will be interesting to see how these talks, regarding the banking super-tax, progress and whether Gordon Brown is given any credit by his EU counterparts ahead of the next general election. In many ways, Gordon Brown needs all the help he can get!
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