Miliband and Hollande 'turning tide against austerity'

The British government's focus on consolidating the public finances and push through supply-side reforms is at odds with the new French president's instincts, according to Philip Whyte, a senior research fellow at the CER. "France is almost at the opposite end of that debate," he told politics.co.uk. "It is arguing for greater fiscal leeway to ease the pace at which public finances are being consolidated. Hollande's victory has sharpened the police differences with Britain – not just in the economic field but also in defence." He predicted that UK-French relations are only likely to get more "prickly" in the coming months as their different approaches to the eurozone crisis and reforms to the single market are addressed. Cameron, who refused to meet Hollande during the French socialist's campaign against Sarkozy, is set to meet with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney later this week. "If you wanted to read a lot into it, you could say it's Holland trying to get his own back for the snub Cameron made to Holland during the French presidential election campaign," Whyte added. But he warned: "Sometimes we can read too much into this."