Douglas Carswell's Blog

Wrong about ERM and Euro membership then. Wrong about Eurozone now

The break up of the Eurozone would be a disaster, they tell us.

Weren't the same kind of people - indeed in several cases precisely the same people - once telling us that the end of the ERM would be a disaster, too?

Far from ruining us economically, once Britain broke out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism we went on to enjoy the longest period of economic growth in our history.

Now a report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research suggests that allowing countries to break out of the Euro could, after short term pain, result in renewed prosperity.

I can think of several members of the current government - and not just the Lib Dems - who were once very keen that Britain should to stay in the ERM, warning of disaster if we left.

And I can also think of some who in the mid 1990s wanted Britain to join the Euro.

I fear that those who say we should maintain the Eurozone at any price today are just as wrong-headed.

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