Britons told: work harder and stop complaining

LONDON – There is only one way Britons can drag their country out of recession: “work harder”, Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an interview published Sunday.

Foreign Secretary William Hague. AFP FILE PHOTO

Hague said Britain’s national work ethic had been declining for decades, with people convinced they could “live on expanded debt forever, rather than having to earn what we spend”.

Britain sank back in recession last month after the economy shrank again in the first quarter, but the government has stuck by its deep spending cuts despite concerns they undermine growth.

“There’s only one growth strategy: work hard,” Hague told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

He said of grumbling business leaders: “They should be getting on with the task of creating more of those jobs and more of those exports, rather than complaining about it.”

He urged people to “Get on the plane, go and sell things overseas, go and study overseas”.

Britain’s Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government has implemented huge cuts to public spending and raised taxes in a bid to slash a record deficit inherited from the previous Labour government in 2010.