THE SIMMERING row between Britain and Germany took another twist yesterday when Britain took the rare step of protesting to a friendly EU nation over its finance minister's description of Gordon Brown's £20 billion fiscal stimulus plan as "crass Keynesianism".
Sir Michael Arthur, British ambassador to Berlin, telephoned the German finance ministry to express Britain's displeasure after Peer Steinbruck intervened in a sensitive area of British politics.
The disclosure of the ambassador's intervention came as Mr Brown declared victory in the row over his response to the recession, after EU leaders reached agreement on a Europe-wide €200 billion fiscal stimulus plan at their summit in Brussels.
"Today's statement is the answer to all the talk of the last few weeks," Mr Brown said.
The finance minister sparked the row between the UK and Germany when he tore into Mr Brown's £12.5 billion VAT cut - the centrepiece of the British government's £20 billion fiscal stimulus package - on the grounds that it would saddle Britain with debt that will take years to pay off.
The intervention was seized on by the Conservatives. They claimed it showed Tory concerns about Mr Brown's policies were shared by politicians around the world.
But officials were delighted when Nicolas Sarkozy made a joke at Mr Steinbruck's expense.
"I have full confidence she will give instructions to her finance minister," the French president said of how he expects the German chancellor Angela Merkel to assert herself when it comes to implementing the plan in Germany.
"We will not stand by and let the recession take its course." - (Guardian service/Bloomberg)
• The pound fell to a record low against the euro yesterday for the fourth consecutive day, with the euro ending at 89p.