Letter: Over EMU cliff

Sir: Why do we wish to throw ourselves off the same cliff as the EMU lemmings (leading article, 3 November)? In the medium to long term the EMU is bound to fail, whatever the perceived advantages for business, the City and the economy now.

If any one sizeable member's economy falters, we shall have removed the only mechanism for a natural improvement - the relative lowering of that country's currency. The only way forward will be to prop up that country's unemployment and social costs with money from other member countries. What incentive will there be for the failing economy to make hard choices? The huge cost involved will bring economic hardship and social dissent in other EMU countries.

The EMU lemmings are betting that such an economic hitch will not happen, but over the next ten to twenty years it is almost bound to arise.

JOHN PHILLIPS

Hughenden Valley, Buckinghamshire