Letter: Beware the euro

Sir: On the eve of European monetary union, I am held by a terrible fear. Many newspapers have reported that a monetary union on mainland Europe would create an economic force supported by 270 million people or so to rival the United States. This is the critical part of this whole terrifying affair.

The economic force of the euro will be such that, should it succeed, it will create a fragile world market, based around two major currencies and building trading rivalries between Europe and the USA. This is not only dangerous for world economic stability, but bears striking similarities to a proto-Orwellian world political situation. Smaller nations will be squeezed tighter and tighter and forced to compete more and more for their share of the market. This will naturally encourage collectivisation of economies elsewhere in the world on the lines of the European model, for example in Africa and South-East Asia, where security would surely be found in size.

Should the euro fail, on the other hand, then there would follow a period of austerity in European economies and the world markets as national monetary systems restarted. Either way, it cannot be beneficial to anyone either in the union or outside it.

Therefore, I implore the Government and the people of Britain, indeed the free world, to oppose this dreadful, sinister agglomeration of states.