In a speech to business leaders in Manchester, the PM is expected to say the euro area is at a “crossroads” and could go into “unchartered territory”.  Greece’s inability to form a government able to push through austerity plans has led to talk of it exiting the euro.  In recent days, government ministers have used increasingly strong language to describe the political deadlock in Greece and its damaging impact on other European economies.

In a speech to business leaders in the North West of England, the PM is expected to return to the theme – warning the problems in Greece and the survival of the euro are a “crisis that never really went away”.

Labour said Mr Cameron was using the eurozone crisis as “an excuse for Britain’s problems” and should instead be urging Europe to rethink its approach to austerity and the role of the European Central Bank.  The Bank of England has again downgraded its forecast for growth in 2012 to just 0.8% with Governor Mervyn King attributing UK weakness to fissures in the single currency bloc.

Credit: BBC/Reuters/APD