Ignore the scare mongers, Cameron was right
Here we go again. The euroenthusiasts are in full scare-mongering mode, with warnings of dire consequences because David Cameron dared to offend the EU elite by fighting Britain’s corner. Clegg and Cable are probably the worst offenders, with unhelpful comments about “pygmy” Britain and the danger of job losses.
It’s all rubbish, of course. Like most scares, there’s very little likelihood that any of it will happen. Significantly, those leading the attack on Cameron’s veto are the same ones who were predicting economic armageddon ten years ago when they were urging us to adopt the euro. As Digby Jones helpfully pointed out yesterday, it didn’t happen then and it almost certainly won’t happen now.
Ed Miliband says that the veto was pointless because the fiscal union between eurozone countries has been agreed anyway. But the Government was never opposed to fiscal union, the veto was intended to block a new EU treaty, which included fiscal union and did not provide safeguards for Britain’s key interests. And, like it or not, the City is one of our core interests, accounting for between 10% and 20% of GDP.
However, in the real world, outside the rarified atmosphere of Brussels, the eurozone crisis remains unresolved. Fiscal union is undoubtedly an important tool but it is probably too late to end the current crisis. So I still expect Greece and possibly Portugal to default, adding to the stresses on the remaining eurozone countries. This turmoil will inevitably have a negative impact on the UK and, unfortunately, the consequent fall-out will undoubtedly be blamed by some (and reported by the BBC) as the result of Britain’s “isolation”. My advice is: keep a large pinch of salt handy whenever you hear the prophets of doom sounding off.
