This is the first time a senior British politician has clearly stated the problems in the Eurozone could affect Britain, according to a report in the Telegraph.
European leaders are due to meet on Thursday this week for an emergency summit to agree a plan to involve the private sector to bail out Greece.
On the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Clegg was asked: “How worried are you that we are on the edge of another really serious world financial crisis?” He replied: “I’m incredibly worried. I think the gravity of the uncertainty in the United States, which is basically a product of political gridlock, and the growing fiscal crisis, sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone is immensely serious.”
He said that it was foolish to think that Britain was able to “wash our hands of it” because the country was not a member of the eurozone.
He continued: “This has a direct impact on British jobs, on the livelihoods of millions of people in this country. That’s why I believe we should play an active role behind the scenes […] to help eurozone members make the reforms necessary to create a strong, prosperous eurozone in the future.”
For leaders to agree on whether banks and bondholders should bail out Greece is vital to prevent the country from defaulting on its $500 bn debt.
Meanwhile, The Guardian reports European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet saying governments need better communication skills to deal with a crisis of this scale.
He added that the Eurozone would not accept bonds from a nation that defaults as collateral for fear of triggering a “Lehmans-style” event in the financial system.
However, Trichet did not elaborate on the alternative vehicles Greece needed to work with to avoid default, just reiterating that Europe would find a resolution.
Eurozone leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss how to halt the threat of contagion to Italy and Spain from Greece’s rumbling debt crisis. Eurozone finance ministers agreed last week to make the European Financial Stability Facility, the eurozone’s multibillion-euro rescue fund, more flexible in order to purchase debt, but governments, the ECB and the commission in Brussels are at loggerheads as to how to resolve the problem.
