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French government ‘worried about Britain’, Macron’s finance minister says

The French government is "worried" about the economic situation unfolding in Britain, Emmanuel Macron's finance minister has said.

Bruno Le Maire, chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's opposite number across the channel, said the UK was paying the price for leaving the EU.

And he said the reaction to Friday's budget showed the danger of making "dramatic" economic policy turns.

It comes after financial markets hammered the pound and government debt after the UK government announced sharp unfunded tax cuts.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and prime minister Liz Truss claimed their budget would boost growth, but have been met with soaring debt costs and the prospect of surging interest rates.

Earlier this week the Bank of England was forced to step in to secure the stability of pension funds, which were left exposed by the sudden market movements.

"I am not worried about the euro but I am worried about the situation in Britain," Le Maire told Europe 1 radio on Friday.

"It shows that dramatic announcements do not work."

He added: "Leaving Europe comes at a considerable cost because Europe offers protection (...) the euro zone protected us during the Covid crisis."

Inflation is currently at 9.9 per cent in the UK; in France the annual figure for 2022 is expected to be around 5 per cent. The government there has controlled energy prices and nationalised public supplier EDF to help it weather the storm.

UK news in pictures

29 September 2022: The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn.  The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years (PA)
29 September 2022: The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years (PA)
28 September 2022: Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government (PA)
28 September 2022: Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government (PA)
27 September 2022: David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London (AFP/Getty)
27 September 2022: David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London (AFP/Getty)
26 September 2022: A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London (PA)
26 September 2022: A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London (PA)
25 September 2022: Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool  before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem (PA)
25 September 2022: Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem (PA)
24 September 2022: Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (PA)
24 September 2022: Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (PA)
23 September 2022: A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London (EPA)
23 September 2022: A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London (EPA)
22 September 2022: Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London (PA)
22 September 2022: Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London (PA)
21 September 2022: A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent (PA)
21 September 2022: A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent (PA)
20 September 2022: Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted (PA)
20 September 2022: Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted (PA)
19 September 2022: The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St George’s Chapel (AFP/Getty)
19 September 2022: The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St George’s Chapel (AFP/Getty)

During the Tory leadership contest Ms Truss was accused of undermining relations with France after saying the "jury's out" on whether French president Emmanuel Macron was "friend or foe".

She later described France as a "freedom-loving democracy" that she would "work with ... whoever the leader is".