Responding to Mr Osborne's statement, shadow chancellor Chris Leslie asks the chancellor what can be done to help British businesses dealing with Greece, and whether the consular staff will be able to cope with the volume of requests for assistance from British tourists. He also asks what the government can do to help the two sides reach an agreement.

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"This is a critical moment" for the Eurozone, and no one should be under any illusions about the seriousness of the situation, George Osborne says. He tells MPs that Britain will be affected, adding: "We must redouble our efforts to put our own house in order. In the budget in two days' time I will set out how we will do that."

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The chancellor says the Department of Work and Pensions has spoken to 2,000 British pensioners living in Greece, and advised them on setting up a British bank account - as capital controls have been placed on Greek accounts.

UK government payments, including pensions, will continue to be made in the usual way, he says.

He adds that they government is advising British tourists, and the government has deployed more consular staff to the Greek islands.

Time now for a statement from Chancellor George Osborne, on Greece. He says Greece is a long-standing ally of the UK, but the country needs to be realistic about the prospects of a happy outcome to the situation. "We are urging all sides to have a final go at diffusing the crisis," he says. "We will do anything we can to protect the UK's economy"

Marc Williams
Newsnight Election Producer

There's a term in football called a "hospital pass". This is defined as "a pass to a player likely to be tackled heavily as soon as the ball is received."

Following the news that George Osborne is going to offload the £650m annual cost of providing free TV licences to the over-75s, it seems that the Chancellor is about to give the BBC one of those hospital passes.

Let's play a game of "good chart, bad chart" for the BBC.

Click here for more.

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In response to another backbench question, the culture secretary says it's time for "a thorough review of every aspect of the BBC's activities", which he says will be done during the charter review.

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Peter Bone, the Conservative MP for Wellingborough, says Labour's Chris Bryant made an important point in his speech about the information appearing in the media before the Budget. I'm sure the chancellor would be as concerned as the minister at this, he says (somewhat sarcastically), before asking whether a leak inquiry has been established.

"I cannot enlighten him as to how this information did come before the newspaper," Mr Whittingdale responds, but he says that as a result it was right for a minister to respond to the urgent question "in detail".

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Tory Jason McCartney says many BBC productions have been filmed in Yorkshire, where his constituency is based, and asks if he'll encourage the BBC to continue to invest in regional production. Mr Whittingdale agrees, and says the organisation has a duty to serve all the nations and regions of the country.

Labour MP Kate Hoey says she thinks the BBC has become involved in "too much frippery", and gone wide of what its remit should be. 

Mr Whittingdale says that exactly the kind of matter that the government will consider when looking at Charter Renewal.

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Labour's Seema Malhotra asks the culture secretary what impact he thinks the move will have on the BBC's ability to invest and remain a "world leader" in programming. Mr Whittingdale stresses that the move has been agreed by the BBC and says he's "confident" the organisation will continue to provide "world-class quality programming".

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Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, says the government is happy to say it won't break its manifesto commitments - but it also happy "to get someone else to pay for them". He wants details about the impact it will have on the BBC's budget - and whether it will affect the World Service. Mr Whittingdale says he's already given the details of the costs in his statement.

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Conservative MP David Nuttall says the licence fee model may have worked in the 1920s but it is "no longer justified" today. He adds that if the BBC's output is "as popular as everyone claims" a subscription model would be no problem. John Whittingdale says his argument is one of those "I'm sure we can consider at the time of charter review".

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Helen Goodman, a Labour MP, says it would have been "more sensible" to have ended the "foolish subsidy" rather than "messing up" the BBC's finances. Mr Whittingdale responds with a defence of the Conservative's position to guarantee free TV licences for over-75s until 2020.

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"This is a significant assault on the BBC's independence", says Ben Bradshaw, a Labour former culture secretary. "I'm extremely disappointed," he tells Mr Whittingdale. 

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The SNP's John Nicolson presses the minister to say whether the government will allow the BBC to means-test licences for the over-75s.

The culture, media and sport secretary said there is "a very clear commitment" in the Tory manifesto that all over-75s will be eligible for a free TV licence over the course of his Parliament "and that will be honoured". He says the BBC takes on responsibility for the free licences in the next Parliament.