OUR North West Lib Dem MEP has been at it again. On Monday evening in a public debate in Fleetwood against the UK Independence Party, we again heard Chris Davies pleading for Britain to join the Euro.
As usual, his main argument was that the strong pound is hurting British manufacturing.
Join the Euro and keep our jobs -- if only it were so simple. But joining at too high a rate will be of no help to our exporters, while lowering the rate makes imports more expensive.
Mr Davies was at a loss to explain how to choose the right exchange rate to fix the Pound to the Euro, how we persuade our EU partners to agree to this choice and how we make sure it remains the right choice.
Clearly the strong pound (actually, the weak Euro) has been a factor in some lay-offs and closures, but not the only factor. And while some businesses contract, others expand.
Overall, UK unemployment is still falling and in 1999 the UK was the second largest world recipient of inward investment after the U.S. Do we really need the Euro?
In the meantime Mr Davies is going round telling trade unions that the Euro is the answer for safeguarding UK jobs. This is plainly irresponsible.
Does he think that the Euro would miraculously stop all lay-offs?
It is shattering and costly when anyone gets laid off. But in the long run, jobs will not be kept by changing the way we count our money.
John Whittaker,
Economics Department,
Lancaster University.
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