Sarkozy insists there is 'no agreement yet'

FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel exposed the split at the heart of the G20 summit today by warning that they will not tolerate a fresh global economic stimulus package.

Mr Sarkozy said that he would not sign up to "false compromises" at the London gathering, telling Europe 1 radio: "As of today, there is no firm agreement in place."

"The conversation is going forward, there are projects on the table. As things stand at the moment, these projects do not suit France or Germany."

Mr Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel were set to stage a joint press conference demanding that the summit bring in a new era of global regulation of banks and bonuses, as well as hedge funds and offshore tax havens.

But in a counterweight to Gordon Brown and Barack Obama, the two leaders were determined to signal that Europe should not incur yet more debts to tackle a global recession triggered by what they see as Anglo-American failure to police financial markets. Both Berlin and Paris have agreed to substantial "economic stimulus" packages but are reluctant to commit further funds, particularly as they blame the US for causing the credit crisis with unregulated sub-prime lending.

However, Japan weighed in behind Britain and America today as premier Taro Aso said that more money was needed to stave off the downturn. He said that Germany didn't understand why "fiscal mobilisation" was vital to injecting demand into the world's economy. David Blanchflower, a member of the Bank of England monetary policy committee, today backed world leaders such as President Obama who are pushing for more fiscal stimulus.

He said unemployment was the biggest problem for the UK economy and could breach three million by the end of the year, having recently topped two million for the first time since 1997.

Mr Blanchflower, who spotted the recession far sooner than others at the Bank and in government, said the cost of not tackling unemployment would be dire.