Former prime minister enjoyed no support for bid to head IMF because Britain is outside the euro
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Britain is supporting Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters
Gordon Brown is irritated that Britain is officially endorsing Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, as the next managing director of the IMF.
Larry Elliott wrote this morning that David Cameron and George Osborne have behaved in a "shabby" way towards the former prime minister.
It is certainly true that Cameron showed a distinct lack of grace towards Brown who deserves respect as a former prime minister and for his decisive role in shaping the global response to the 2008 banking crisis.
Cameron came close to breaking the unwritten rule that prime ministers tread carefully when discussing their predecessors. This is what Cameron told the Today programme on 19 April when he effectively blocked Brown's bid to head the IMF:
If you have someone who didn't think we had a debt problem they may not be the best person to decide whether other countries have that problem.
While the initial rejection of Brown may have been inspired by an unpleasant bit of spite, the eventual decision to endorse Lagarde was driven by a hard-headed calculation about what is in Britain's interests. The members of the eurozone were adamant that the next head of the IMF should be one of their own. This meant that Brown had no support from France and Germany.
Cameron, who has spoken of the importance of recognising the growing importance of developing economies, had considered whether to break the unwritten rule that Europe always provides the head of the IMF. A long-standing informal arrangement means that the president of the World Bank is always an American.
But once Kemal Derviş, the former Turkish finance minister, ruled himself out of contention Britain felt free to go with the European flow.
Paris and Berlin made clear in recent weeks that the European candidate had to come from a eurozone member – basically France or Germany – because the IMF is playing a key role in bailing out troubled members of the currency. By endorsing Lagarde Britain is showing respect for a currency that it spurned – a decision that deeply upset the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder who felt that Tony Blair lied to him over his intentions.
Cameron will now have stored up a great deal of credit with Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel. He will be able to cash this in even if Lagarde is ultimately unsuccessful. Cameron will gain in two ways:
• Sarkozy and Merkel will be better disposed to Britain at EU summits. The next big issue will be the negotiations over the next seven year EU budget. The British rebate will be on the table. Paris loathes the rebate but its opposition may now be voiced in a slightly milder way.
• Britain will be well placed to ask for French and German support for a British candidate for the next big international job. I wrote on Saturday that Cameron is keen to see Peter Mandelson become the next head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) when Pascal Lamy stands down next year.
Brown may be irritated with Cameron and Osborne. But in the end he enjoyed no support because Britain is not a member of the euro. And which member of Tony Blair's cabinet was decisive in thwarting his ambitions to join the single currency? Step forward one James Gordon Brown.