Osborne: EU must 'prepare for the worst' in Greek crisis

Chancellor George Osborne has said that Europe needs to "prepare for worst" as he arrived at a meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg.

Mr Osborne said that Treasury officials would now go on to complete preparations to protect the British economy from the effects of a disorderly "Grexit" by Athens from the single currency.

Mr Osborne said: "We have entered the eleventh hour of this Greek crisis, and we urge the Greek government to do a deal before it is too late. We hope for the best, but we now must be prepared for the worst.

"In the UK we've taken the measures to increase our economic security so we can deal with risks like this from abroad. And clearly now we must go on and complete that plan."