Note: Effing unbelievable. What we must watch out for is a smaller northern Eurozone around northern Europe being created and our politicos climbing on that bandwagon.
RH Lord Heseltine: We should still ditch the pound
Michael Heseltine, the former defence secretary, claims that Britain made a mistake not joining the single currency and should still sign up for the euro.
Sunday 13 November 2011
Telegraph
Lord Heseltine, the former defence secretary, says Britain made a big mistake in not joining the euro. Photo: Geoff Pugh
Tim Walker. Edited by Richard Eden
7:30AM GMT 11 Nov 2011
The leaders of Italy and Greece have resigned and the eurozone appears to be on the brink of breaking up, but Lord Heseltine has lost none of his faith in the single currency.
“We made a great mistake in not joining the euro,” the former defence secretary told a gathering of the Conservative China Group at the Palace of Westminster. “It would have been good for Britain.”
To gasps of incredulity, he went on: “All my political life, we have suffered in this country from a vile disease called inflation.
“Every government, regardless of political stripe, takes the soft option and devalues our currency. If we had joined the euro, the Germans would have forced us to be more competitive. I am telling you this country needs to become more like Germany. We should still join the euro.”
Michael Heseltine, who shared a platform with Tony Blair and Kenneth Clarke at the launch of Britain in Europe in 1999, caused even more consternation with an extraordinary appeal.
“Let me tell you this,” he said. “The nation state is in decline everywhere — superseded by supra-national structures and blocs.
“We have unleashed forces that nation states simply can not regulate. That is why we need not just political union within Europe — but, yes, ultimately, some kind of global governance. The Chinese know this; I know this. Believe me, it is the future.”
One Tory MP present commented: “The man has lost the plot. He makes us sound like we’re Greece.
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