Clegg Hits Out At Eurozone 'Xenophobia'

Nick Clegg has hit out at "xenophobic" comments - as tensions over the eurozone crisis between France and the United Kingdom continue to run high.

The Deputy Prime Minister told French prime minister Francois Fillon to "calm the rhetoric" as senior French politicians called for London to be put under tougher scrutiny.

Their own AAA credit rating came under threat after ratings agency Fitch said it was giving the country a negative outlook after concluding a comprehensive solution to the single currency crisis was "beyond reach".

Mr Clegg told the Guardian newspaper: "The danger at the moment is because society is under economic stress, xenophobia, chauvinism and polarisation increase.

"You can see it in British politics. This is the perfect environment if you are (UKIP leader) Nigel Farage or (SNP leader) Alex Salmond.

"The people who are trying to exploit the politics of grievance and blame, they believe they have got the wind in their sails."

He earlier told French prime minister Francois Fillon to "calm the rhetoric" after he questioned why France's rating was under threat when the UK was "even more indebted than us and carrying a bigger deficit".

"What I see is that the ratings agencies so far don't seem to have noticed," he said.

French finance minister Francois Baroin further inflamed the situation by calling the UK's situation "very worrying" and suggesting France was better off economically.

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Credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's is still reviewing several countries' ratings, including France, and Moody's has downgraded Belgium's debt by two notches as the crisis continues to bite.

Downing Street, which has declined to retaliate to a string of digs at the UK, made clear on Friday that it stood fully behind the Deputy Prime Minister's rebuke.

Prime Minister David Cameron's dramatic veto of efforts to agree a pan-European Union deal to rescue the single currency gave momentum to the spat.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is quoted as branding him an "obstinate kid" for refusing to sign up.

Mr Clegg's angry retort came when the French prime minister called from a visit to Brazil to insist he had not intended to call into question the UK's credit rating.

"Fillon made clear it had not been his intention to call into question the UK's rating but to highlight that ratings agencies appeared more focused on economic governance than deficit levels," a spokesman for Mr Clegg said.

"The Deputy Prime Minister accepted his explanation but made the point that recent remarks from members of the French government about the UK economy were simply unacceptable and that steps should be taken to calm the rhetoric.

"PM Fillon agreed and they both undertook to speak again shortly to discuss economic cooperation."

Officials in Brussels on Friday set out initial details of how efforts towards securing a "fiscal compact" to resolve the crisis in the single currency would be conducted.

Despite the veto, British officials will take part in "technical discussions" in what is seen as an olive branch both to the other EU countries and Mr Clegg, who has expressed bitter disappointment at the outcome of the summit.

Number 10 said the officials would be there "to ensure that the views of the UK are represented and our national interest is maintained".