Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is not impressed by Gordon Brown’s measures to tackle the UK financial crisis. Mr. Sarkozy told a domestic television audience Thursday that he will not follow the British Prime Minister in cutting VAT, claiming that it had ‘absolutely no impact.’

That comment is a political gift to David Cameron, who has said the same thing from the introduction of the VAT cut late November last year. It is also a blow to Mr. Brown’s effort to iron out a common European Union tactic on how to fight the recession ahead of a G20 summit in London this April.

Mr. Sarkozy commented further on the UK, saying that Britain ‘doesn’t have any industry left’ and that the country’s banks were ‘close to ruin’. This is music to the opposition’s ears. Shadow chancellor George Osbourne claims that the Tory’s have always maintained that the VAT cut will be an expensive failure, and that this view is no longer only echoed by British retailers, but by foreign governments, including France, Germany and Holland.

Mr. Brown is said to be furious by the French president’s comments, but the attack from France is being put down to Sarkozy’s annoyance over Brown’s reluctance to consult other EU leaders over bank support measures and stimulus plans. Nevertheless, it couldn’t be a sweeter music for the Conservatives who are riding high on the financial downturn.