Cameron ready to block Brown’s IMF prospects

The Prime Minister said Mr Brown was not the “most appropriate person” to take over as managing director of the IMF because he failed to understand the dangers of excessive debt.

His intervention raised the prospect of a UK veto amid heightened speculation that Mr Brown is emerging as a leading contender to take over from Dominique Strauss-Kahn who is deciding whether to be the socialist candidate in the French Presidential elections next year.

Labour Leader Ed Miliband insisted the former Prime Minister and Chancellor would be “eminently qualified” and a “strong candidate” for the £270,000-a-year job.

But, asked whether he would veto the move, Mr Cameron said: “I haven’t spent a huge amount of time thinking about this but it does seem to me that, if you have someone who didn’t think we had a debt problem in the UK when we self-evidently do have a debt problem, then they might not be the most appropriate person to work out whether other countries around the world have debt and deficit problems.”