Britannia Radio

Facts they may be, but one key fact is missing –

the answer to the question WHY

Answer : There is no mystery

The Maastricht Treaty did, and still does, lay title claim to all the UK ’s gold and dollar reserves. At the time of the gold sale the recently-launched euro was struggling to establish itself on the currency markets. Receipts from the gold sale were used to buy euros, which propped it up for a while but failed to stop the slide.

However the transaction simultaneously met a large part of the demand that all the UK ’s gold and dollar reserves be passed to Frankfurt while neatly avoiding physical transfers in fleets of bullion trucks driving to the Channel ports. A huge potential political flashpoint had been smartly sidestepped.

Such deceit is the normal modus operandi when the EU (and the British government for that matter) knows a proposal or directive does not have popular support.

Gordon Brown lied when he claimed it was a purely commercial decision. It was intended to show support for the euro, and it started to meet the UK 's treaty obligation to transfer our national assets to the ECB if the UK were ever to join. It also assumed that the result of then promised referendum on joining the euro would be in the government’s favour.

It is highly unlikely that the Labour government would have won the 1997 election at all, let alone in a landslide, if they had said that they intended to sell a significant proportion of the UK ’s gold reserves – whatever the reason.

After the sale, gold represented a mere seven per cent of total reserves. Previously it was 17 percent. And all without anyone being asked, agreeing or voicing a view. By mid-2000, British taxpayers were sitting on a loss of some £26 million. Now it is over £13 billions.

My sources at the time were impeccable. One of them was even inside the Bank of England.

BTW the physical gold was held in the Bank of England on behalf of the EU for some time after the sale. Where those ingots are today I don't know.

Ashley Mote

PS – The German government was the only one of the (now) 17 eurozone members not to melt down all its coins and pulp all its notes when joining the euro – as the treaty demanded. The German government simultaneously embarked on a huge gold-buying programme which went on for years. Their gold holdings are now massive. Net result - the Dmark could be re-launched tomorrow – no problem!