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The press release issued by the Conservative Party on 13 February 2001.

Brussels rebukes booming Ireland

Irish rebuke by the European Commission gives valuable ammunition to British opponents of the euro

OPPONENTS of British membership of the euro were given valuable ammunition yesterday when Ireland was “reprimanded” by the European Commission for not doing enough to control inflation and Gordon Brown was ticked off for allowing the British economy to move into the deficit.

The Chancellor made plain that he would take no notice of the Commission’s strictures and continue to increase public investment, while the Irish Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy, voiced anger at being told to change his plans for the booming Irish economy to prevent it overheating.

Mr Brown called for a “sensible interpretation” of the growth and stability pact that lays down the rules for eurozone countries to keep their budgets broadly in balance.

Countries inside the euro face sanctions if they allow their budget deficits to go beyond 3 per cent of GDP. Those outside can be mildly rebuked.

Francis Maude, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said the more that was learnt about the euro, the more the reasons to keep the pound mounted up. The Commission should not have the right to tell the Britain what levels of borrowing it should undertake, he said.

The press release issued by the Conservative Party on 19 February 2001.

BYERS: UK FINE WITHOUT EURO

Cabinet member concedes that Britain is thriving outside the single currency

TRADE supremo Stephen Byers yesterday performed an incredible U-turn on the single currency.

Mr Byers – the Cabinet’s euro cheerleader – admitted it will be virtually impossible to persuade voters to ditch the Pound because it would jeopardise the economy.

And for the first time, the Trade Secretary declared there is no end in sight to the record number of foreign firms rushing to set up shop in Britain.

His change of heart shows the massive doubts at the highest level of government over the crucial issue of signing up to the euro.

And it is a bitter blow to pro-euro campaigners but a clear sign Tony Blair wants to kill off discussion about the Pound’s future in the run-up to the election.

Mr Byers had warned that £51billion-a-year of foreign investment in Britain would dry up and millions of jobs would be at risk unless we scrapped the Pound.

But yesterday Mr Byers said: “It is a great irony that in terms of convincing the British people to join the single currency, one of the problems is the success of our economy.

“Because people will say we are the fourth biggest economy in the world, inflation is down at 1.8 per cent, interest rates are coming down, unemployment is down to the lowest it has been for 25 years. And people will say, ‘Are you going to put all that at risk by joining the single currency?’”

He added: “I think it will be a hard campaign – if there is a campaign – when the tests are met, to persuade people joining the single currency is going to be in the long-term interests of our country.

“I genuinely can’t see any sign of inward investment dropping off because of Britain not being in the euro. How long that will last for, I don’t know.”

The press release issued by the Conservative Party on 24 November 2000.

56,000 WEIGH IN WITH `KEEP THE POUND’ CALL

Conservative MP Richard Shepherd today presented a Keep the Pound petition signed by a massive 56,286 people to the Commons

The petition, carried into the chamber in boxes marked Keep the Pound, urges the Government to listen to the people and retain Britain’s currency.

We the people are being led into a federal state which we do not wish to be part of. We wish to remain an independent sovereign state with the economy run for the benefit of our own citizens,” the petition said.

Mr Shepherd (Aldridge Brownhills) said: “The petition has been gathered and signed by people supporting all the political parties and those supporting none.

It is a genuine expression from across the West Midlands of deep concern for democracy and our control over the economy. It expresses a sense of country.”

The press release issued by the Conservative Party on 29 November 2000.

Eddie George warns of dropping £.

The euro would mean a return to the dark days of the 70s, warns Bank of England boss Sir Eddie George.

Workers face being thrown back to the dark days of the ’70s if Tony Blair dumps the Pound, Britain’s leading moneyman suggested yesterday.

Bank of England boss Sir Eddie George warned there could be tough rules on wage rises and higher taxes as the Government battled the inflation caused by a switch to the euro.

Experts said it would be just like the depressed ’70s when Britain was the sick man of Europe.

Then, the Government had to introduce rules to keep WAGES down as inflation soared to 26 per cent.

There was a year-long waiting list for MORTGAGES and HOLIDAYMAKERS were only allowed to take £50 out of the country.

Even getting a LOAN for a car, like the popular Ford Capri, became a problem due to restraints.

Unemployment rose to more than a million for the first time since the 1940s.

The crisis was fuelled by outrageous pay demands from hardline union bosses.

Britain ended up on a three-day week, there were picket lines and power cuts.

Then in 1976, Labour Chancellor Denis Healey went cap in hand for a loan of $2.3billion to the IMF to avoid bankruptcy.

Sir Eddie, giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, said that once Britain joined the euro “the techniques for influencing domestic inflation would have to look more to fiscal rather than monetary policy.”

He said that would bring about a “need to control inflation.”

His remarks are the clearest sign yet that he believes the euro zone’s one-size-fits-all economy – where interest rates are set for 11 countries by bankers in Frankfurt – would be a disaster for Britain.

Andrew Haldenby, of Business for Sterling, said: “In a few crisp sentences Eddie George has summed up the entire case against joining the euro.

“Giving up control of interest rates, the central lever of economic management, would take us back to 1970s-style tax rates and pay policies.

“If we had joined at the start, Britain would now be suffering a job-destroying inflationary boom.”

And Shadow Chancellor Michael Portillo said: “If we joined the euro, Britain would be forced into adopting these failed policies that produced boom and bust in the 1970s.”

Ireland has already been forced to strike a three-year wage restraint deal with unions after joining the euro. The country has seen its inflation rocket to a 15-year high of 6.8 per cent since it signed up.

Sir Eddie recently blew a hole in the PM’s drive to ditch sterling when he insisted Britain MUST keep the Pound. He told world bankers the UK is thriving and the Pound’s future is a purely political issue.

Mr Blair says the decision to join the euro will only be based on economics. This week a poll showed a record 71 per cent of Britons want to keep sterling.

The press release issued by the Conservative Party on 30 November 2000.

Foreign Firms Flocking to Britain

New report shows Britain is no.1 for overseas investment – proving we can thrive outside the euro.

The latest research from leading business information group Dun and Bradstreet concludes that 28,777 foreign-owned companies are doing business in Britain compared to 23,300 in 1998. The report knocks Tony Blair’s warnings that we risk our economy unless we ditch the £.

The number of French firms doing business in Britain rocketed by a third and Dutch business rose by a quarter.

Investment in Britain from Holland, France and Germany has shot up since they joined the euro 18 months ago as high taxes and red tape cripple businesses. American firms make up the biggest slice of foreign input, followed by Holland, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, Australia and Canada.

This report comes only 2 days after Honda decided to double car production at Swindon. Last year outside companies ploughed £252.2 billion into Britain – up from £204 billion in 1998.

This trend is echoed by finance experts who predict that Denmark’s economy will be boosted by a No vote in next month’s euro referendum.