Letter: The personal price that must be paid for the pursuit of zero inflation

Sir: John Major has boasted that his dream was to make the British currency dominant in Europe. He wanted the European Bank to be built in London and the pound to lead the franc, the mark and the other nine currencies in the new Europe. Many billions of pounds later, a base rate of 12 per cent is the price we have to pay for his overwheening ambition.

His Chancellor has said that three million unemployed was a price worth paying. To satisfy this vanity, many more businesses and mortgages will be lost.

Today we have seen the clearest warning yet of the dangers of the constraints of the exchange rate mechanism.

Yours sincerely,

IAN CAMPBELL

Borth, Dyfed

15 September