That old lefty Will Hutton was on This Week on BBC1 last night and was insisting that despite it's present difficulties Britain will be begging to join the other 17 countries (of the current 27 total in the Eu) in the Euro currency by 2020. He reckons that Britain cannot survive outside of a major block such as North America or the Eu into the medium term. Portilo was repeating a story from some Spamiard who reckons they will kick us out of the Eu any and whether they do or don't there is certainly a euro-scpetic view in this counntry...and any referendum to leave the Eu would be won.
Is he right or wrong ?
G/L
There is only one thing wrong with the concept of a EU. It has grown far too quickly.
Because it needed to grow economically, it allowed the poorer members of Europe to join. Constructing a community like this is an incredibly slow process and the original six, including nations as diverse as France and Germany, with all the old antagonisms swept under the carpet, had enough to do in getting themselves sorted out, first.
These nations united, mainly, to avoid future wars, In this, EU has been successful--it is 65 years since there has been a war between member nations. That, in this atomic age, is worth having, believe me!
The rest of it has been Capitalism gone mad and driven by stupid , nationalist politicians, most of them unsuccessful in their own countries and sent to Brusssels to be pensioned off. You sent Neil Kinnock and the ex-governor of Hong Kong, we sent a disgraced future socialist prime minister, whose name I've forgotten, who got mixed up in tax fraud. All countries got rid of their embarrasments!
The mad dash to a common currency was made by a group of nations that has no common foreign policy, no common economic policy and no common defence system. It would take days if not weeks, to agree to defend itself!
Sarkozy, today, said that Greece should never have been allowed to join in 2001. The reality is that we are in 2011 and Greece, as we all know, is in. It is today's problem, along with a lot of other things.
I believe that Europe is worth working on but it's going to be very difficult to get 27 member states all pulling together, especially as Germany seems to be the only motor working, at present.
As far as the UK is concerned, I would not allow it to enter the Euro until all this is sorted out. It doesn't make any sense. In Europe, we don't need to know the results of a referendum. For goodness sake, it's obvious to us that you would be one more problem, unless you are going to pull with the two majors here. Three major nations squabbling, instead of two, is what the rest of us do not need. However, pull out of Europe, altogether? Big mistake.
