In an unprecedented show of unity 26 of the 27 European Member States agreed to ban the word austerity from their respective languages.
As expected, Greece used its' veto against the proposal before releasing the following statement; "In the official Greek Language we have never had a use for such a word in our entire history and so, it would be impossible for us to ban something that we have clearly never had. This idea of 'austerity' is obviously a foreign import to our beloved country and will not be tolerated. The Greek Government will not stand for this meddling in its' affairs, a move that was clearly supported by the electorate in its' clear show of support recently".
Foreign Secretary William Vague defended the decision by saying: "The word 'austerity' has come in for a lot of negative press recently and really should go. We are in full agreement with Europe over this. A meeting will be held somewhere very pleasant later in the summer to decide on its replacement. With any luck Greece will not be a problem by then either. The UK Government hopes that a much more user friendly term, such as 'realignment' can be agreed upon. Or we may even make a new word up to replace it, 'Adjustafinement' maybe. Anyway we will just have to wait and see".
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg was unavailable for comment.