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'The United Kingdom has no industry any more': Sneering Sarkozy attacks Britain on French TVFrench President hit out as he defended a 1.6% VAT rise on national TV
Sarkozy also announced 0.1% tax on financial transactions
He will come face-to-face

By Peter Allen

Last updated at 9:39 AM on 30th January 2012

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A sneering Nicolas Sarkozy has attacked Britain for being a country with 'no industry'.
The embattled French President, who is hoping to be re-elected this Spring, made the extraordinary outburst as he defended a VAT rise during a prime time national TV broadcast.
He had just announced a 1.6 per cent hike in VAT in a move designed to boost France�s failing economy.
But when a journalist pointed out that Britain had experienced a rise in prices after increasing its VAT contributions, Mr Sarkozy - who in 2009 claimed a VAT rise in Britain had �absolutely failed� to stimulate the economy - spat out the words: 'The United Kingdom has no industry any more.'
'No industry': The French President used the inflammatory words as he defended a VAT rise during a prime time national TV broadcast
Le snub! President Sarkozy famously refused to shake David Cameron's hand after her vetoed the proposed EU treaty changes in December
He said he was borrowing the measure from Germany, arguing that it had 'helped to boost German competitiveness' and had not led to a rise in prices
It is not the first time Mr Sarkozy, who will come face-to-face with Prime Minister David Cameron at an EU debt summit today, has expressed his dislike of his cross-Channel neighbours.
In October at an EU-27 summit, after criticism from UK ministers over the euro, Mr Sarkozy bluntly told Mr Cameron: 'You have lost a good opportunity to shut up.'
He added: 'We are sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro and now you want to interfere in our meetings.'

More...Tory MPs back on the warpath over Europe: Threat of referendum on quitting and revolt over euro

A month later, in response to a question at a press conference about whether France and Germany were trying to change the governments of Greece and Italy, Mr Sarkozy hit out, saying: 'Perhaps the fact that you come from an island, you can't understand the subtleties of the European construction.'
And today's meeting - where EU leaders will sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the eurozone - could potentially herald a repeat of 'Le Snub', when the French leader refused to shake Mr Cameron's hand after the Prime Minister vetoed proposed changes to the EU treaty in December

SARKOZY LASHES OUT AT THE UK
'You have lost a good opportunity to shut up...We are sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do'
To David Cameron at EU-27 summit,
October 2011

'Perhaps the fact that you come from an island, you can't understand the subtleties of the European construction.'
To Newsnight economics editor Paul Mason,
November 2011
'The United Kingdom has no industry any more.'

On French national TV broadcast
January 2012

Mr Sarkozy was not questioned on the latest comments by any of the carefully selected journalists assisting with the broadcast from the Elysee Palace.
And despite his previous view on such measures in the UK he last night he saw the VAT rise as an essential measure to reverse his country�s fortunes, as he praised Angela Merkel for applying it.
It came as the German Chancellor offered �active support� at campaign rallies for Mr Sarkozy, who is widely expected to fail in his re-election bid.
A �Robin Hood� tax on financial transactions was also imposed by Mr Sarkozy last night � despite fierce opposition from EU leaders including Prime Minister David Cameron who described it as �utter madness�.
The 11th-hour measures to boost French competitiveness - and improving his economic record - are being described by analysts as a risky political gamble.
Opinion polls show the majority of the population is against an increase in sales tax, which will eat into their spending power.
The 0.1 per cent financial transaction levy will be introduced in August regardless of whether other European countries follow suit.
The tax is part of a package of measures set out by the president to promote growth and create jobs.
David Cameron at the Toyota factory in Burnaston last year. In 2009 Mr Sarkozy attacked a VAT rise in Britain, saying it had 'absolutely failed' to stimulate the economy
French and German proposals for the EU-wide financial transaction tax were among the reasons that Mr Cameron vetoed EU treaty changes at a summit in Brussels in December.
The tax is intended to dissuade speculators from making very short-term investments in foreign exchange.
But Mr Cameron argued that the so-called 'Tobin Tax' - named after American economist James Tobin - would penalise the City of London, where 75 per cent of European financial transactions take place.
Earlier this month he vowed to wield a second veto in Europe if France and Germany insist on pushing ahead with the EU-wide tax.
�With tax on financial transactions, we are going to show an example,� said Mr Sarkozy, as he outlined the tough new measures in the hour long broadcast, which was shown by no less than eight channels.
While officially a presidential address, Mr Sarkozy made it clear that all of his attention is on the two-round presidential election to be held in April and May.
The hugely unpopular Mr Sarkozy is currently trailing his Socialist rival, Francois Hollande, in all polls.
Not only are some 3 million people currently unemployed in France, but the country lost its triple-A credit rating from Standard and Poor earlier this month.
Before this happened, Mr Sarkozy had said that such a downgrade would hamper his election chances enormously, saying: 'If we lose the triple-A, I'm dead.'
The hugely unpopular Mr Sarkozy is currently trailing his Socialist rival, Francois Hollande, pictured, in all polls
After the downgrade, Mr Sarkozy told aides: �For the first time in my life I am facing the end of my career.�
The decline of Mr Sarkozy, a right-wing conservative, is seen as Mr Hollande�s greatest asset, and last week the Socialist candidate launched an impassioned attack on �the world of finance�.
Mr Hollande has promised huge tax rises, some �19billion in new spending by 2017, and 150,000 state-subsidised new jobs for young workers, as well as 60,000 new teaching jobs.
But Ms Merkel on Saturday pledged to support Mr Sarkozy on the campaign trail, because she apparently doubts Mr Hollande�s ability to solve the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis.
Ms Merkel and Mr Sarkozy have built up such a strong working relationship that they are referred to as �Merkozy�.
The latest opinion poll published this weekend suggested Mr Hollande would take 56 percent of votes in the second round of the election, with Mr Sarkozy on 44 percent.
Mr Sarkozy, who turned 57 on Saturday, has been involved in numerous scandals since coming to power in 2007.
Magistrates are currently looking at allegations that Mr Sarkozy and other senior members of the ruling UMP party received envelopes stuffed full of cash from Liliane Bettencourt, the L�oreal heiress and France�s richest woman, in return for future tax breaks.
Mr Sarkozy�s third wife, the former supermodel Carla Bruni, has also been accused of enriching close friends in Paris through her charity work.

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Tory MPs back on the warpath over Europe: Threat of referendum on quitting and revolt over euroTory MPs will today launch cross-party campaign to demand EU referendum

By Peter Allen

Last updated at 9:39 AM on 30th January 2012

Rebellion: Senior Tories have made clear to David Cameron their opposition to the EU
David Cameron faces a double revolt over Europe today with Tory MPs demanding a referendum on the EU and threatening a backbench rebellion over the new treaty.
The Prime Minister heads to a summit in Brussels with senior Tories warning him not to cave in to demands from eurozone countries to use the EU institutions funded by Britain to prop up the single currency.
Iain Duncan Smith and Boris Johnson both told Mr Cameron yesterday not to allow the European Court of Justice to enforce the new rules on spending in the eurozone after No 10 revealed on Friday that the UK will not fight the plans.

Tory MPs will today join the launch of a cross-party campaign to demand a referendum on Britain�s membership of the EU.
The People�s Pledge, which has collected 100,000 signatures supporting a nationwide vote, will announce plans to hold a series of local referendums to pile pressure on the Government to act.
To further antagonise Tory Eurosceptics, it emerged yesterday that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is sending a member of his staff with Mr Cameron to the summit to keep an eye on him � after the Lib Dem leader was allegedly �blindsided� by the PM�s treaty veto before Christmas.
Eurosceptic Tories warned Mr Cameron that he will face the �mother of all rows� if he fails to block plans for the new European fiscal union to use the European Court of Justice to enforce its rules.
They believe that will allow those countries which sign the treaty to meddle with the single market, of which Britain is a member.
Mr Cameron has repeatedly vowed to block the use of the EU institutions since he vetoed UK involvement in a new treaty in December but a No 10 source confirmed the U-turn, saying: �We are not going to throw our toys out over this.�

Mr Duncan Smith, the most senior Eurosceptic in the Cabinet, said that he trusted Mr Cameron to stick to his pledge not to back down.
The Work and Pensions Secretary said: �The fact is the Prime Minister vetoed them using the institutions and he has always said that veto was because we had no guarantees that what they are proposing would not damage the single market, or for that matter, would actually cause problems for the financial sector.
Asked about the No 10 climbdown, London mayor Mr Johnson said: �I�m anxious that the wrong approach may be taken on the eurozone.�
Senior Tory eurosceptics: London Mayor Boris Johnson and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith both told Mr Cameron not to allow the European Court of Justice to be used to enforce eurozone spending rules

Tory MP Nadine Dorries said: �Cameron is sleepwalking into the mother of all backbench rows if he thinks he can let �FU� nations use the ECJ without recourse to Parliament.�
�FU� is the term of abuse Eurosceptics use for countries that have signed up to the new �fiscal union�.
Mr Cameron will come under renewed pressure today when Tory MPs reveal they are joining the People�s Pledge group as it unveils a grassroots campaign for an in-out referendum on Europe.
Dozens of MPs will announce plans to run their own referendums in individual Parliamentary seats, where voters will be asked to say whether they want a national ballot on UK membership of the EU.

Those involved include Labour MPs Natascha Engel and Keith Vaz, both Commons select committee chairmen, and Tory Douglas Carswell.
Mr Carswell said: �With ministers and mandarins left in charge, we have lurched from one disastrous Euro deal to the next. It is time for the people to take back control.�
In a third headache for Mr Cameron, the think-tank Open Europe called on the Government to �repatriate� 130 laws on crime and policing, including controversial measures such as the European Arrest Warrant.
If it does not, responsibility for the laws will pass from the British courts to the European Court of Justice.

The only thing we ever got out of the EU was the �50 million a day bill and millions of immigrants taking what was left of our jobs and homes and filling our schools up with non english speaking rubbish.

Athelstan I · Guest