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UK adopting the EURO
gemma-the-husky
Posts: 18,116 Forum Member
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I think that the UK will ultimately leave the EU.
I think that if we REALLY REALLY wanted to be in the EU, our politicians would have persuaded us that we should adopt the EURO, and not wait for a (mythical) time when circumstances will be right.
The fact that thy haven't is either because they are scared of a (non-existent) public backlash, or because at the heart of it, they want to retain the possibility of withdrawal.
(Or maybe it's just so that their banker friends can make billions out of changing our holiday money. I would hate to think that might be the case)
Hence, I think we will ultimately withdraw.
(for similar reasons, 50 years ago, we should have changed our roads to drive on the right - it's a much bigger job to do that now)
I think that if we REALLY REALLY wanted to be in the EU, our politicians would have persuaded us that we should adopt the EURO, and not wait for a (mythical) time when circumstances will be right.
The fact that thy haven't is either because they are scared of a (non-existent) public backlash, or because at the heart of it, they want to retain the possibility of withdrawal.
(Or maybe it's just so that their banker friends can make billions out of changing our holiday money. I would hate to think that might be the case)
Hence, I think we will ultimately withdraw.
(for similar reasons, 50 years ago, we should have changed our roads to drive on the right - it's a much bigger job to do that now)
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What?
it didn't happen and won't happen because of Threadneedle Street. The worlds capital of spivs and charlatans much prefer the ability to manipulate on their own terms, beholden to the ECB is never going to happen.
but it will be a long time before any of them dare to suggest we join the slow car crash that is the €
Or maybe Black Wednesday convinced them that tying together the currencies of disparate economies too closely is a bad idea. Difficult to believe I know but occasionally our politicians get something right
Jesus - how much money do you take on holiday then?
Brown deserves knighthood for that
http://liamhalligan.com/2014/06/01/can-we-have-a-sensible-debate-about-the-eu/
4th in a list of five.
And after you've bunged him his knighthood - for committing the UK to bailing out the Euro (even though we weren't a part of it), he should be frogmarched through Traitor's Gate into the Tower of London for a lengthy stretch.
It was a nice idea on paper but was never going to work in the long term.
It was major's government which didn't take us in to the Euro.
I suppose Blair's didn't either. But it wasn't really on the cards then.
Major was instrumental in shadowing the Deuchmark with the eventual possibility of joining the Euro until Black Wednesday, when it was off the cards. The 'bastards' wouldn't have put up with joining the ERM again.
He did?
The Euro and the EU are not intertwined, as we're proving.
Even a massive Europhile like me recognises that the idea of a single currency over an area of massive difference was quite obviously flawed.
I don't see why we can't carry on inside Europe, but retaining the pound - as has been happening for the last 14(?) years since the Euro was adopted.
I don't understand why you think it has to be an 'all or nothing'.
You've got a short memory. The Liberals were completely in favour, as was much of the Labour party, including the PM. There was even a 'Conservatives for Europe group who wanted us in, not forgetting the likes of Clarke, Heath and a few other tory grandees. There really was a head wind behind the campaign for Britain to join the Euro then, and it was primarily Brown that kept us out.
Our continued massive trade deficit makes a collapse in the pound inevitable.
Joining the EURO is the only way to alleviate the massive economic disaster that would cause.
We would need a Greece/Ireland style bailout, but that is preferable the other option.
Hmm, we've been part of the EU for many years, did you not get the memo?
I think thats we get beat up regularly. We dont really want to be completely in, do we?
I see somebodies brain really failed to engage here
Well, I know in any referendum I'll be voting for the EU
Without massive political reform, in a referendum I would most definitely vote to leave!
I hope you have faith in our political system
The disadvantage of a single currency is that a single interest rate does not suit different regional economies. But all economies suffer from this to some extent. So it's not a show stopper.
I suggest these were at least two of the main reasons UK politicians did not take the UK into the Euro. They didn't like the loss of political control that a correctly operated single currency implies. I suspect the City wasn't keen either, and advised against it.
They are intertwined and will become more so. Despite any comforting assurances from Merkel et al to the contrary - and it's plain to see from the Juncker episode how worthless such assurances are - pretty much all of the EU will become a single European state based on the Euro and it will act as one in its best interests. However, the legislation it passes in its interests will become British law, even though it will not necessarily be in our best interests.
The only logical thing for the UK to do is withdraw from the EU and trade with the union through a bilateral agreement.