Britain 'must make euro decision
Britain must make its decision on the euro within the next year or so and ‘‘get on with its life’’, the director general of the CBI urged today.
Digby Jones called on the British government to end ‘‘delay and prevarication’’ on the issue and was backed by John Monks, general secretary of the TUC, who said it was time to ‘‘face up’’ to policy changes faced by Britain.
Both men, who are due to give their New Year messages later today, predicted that the manufacturing industry faced a ‘‘challenging’’ year.
Mr Jones said uncertainty about Britain’s membership of the euro inevitably had an ‘‘impact on investment decisions’’.
He said: ‘‘Britain has got to be shown to make its decision and get on with its life because I’m very concerned as we face, as Europe, a global slow-down in a competitive world, economic reform in Europe is not happening.
‘‘Britain cannot really influence that if we are a country member and we have got to show where we are actually standing and over the next year or so actually come to a decision one way or the other.
‘‘It is the delay and the prevarication which causes the problem.’’
Mr Monks added: ‘‘I think it is important, looking at the year ahead, while people do get used to the euro that actually we do start facing up to the big policy choices before this country which is are we going to join a major trading area on our doorstep with its single currency or are we going in a sense to be half in, half out?
‘‘Today I am asking the Government to move forward on it and to step up the preparation otherwise we are in a sense going to put it off and put if off ... and then we’ll be talking about the next election rather than perhaps next year.’’
Mr Jones said people in Britain would ‘‘get used’’ to the currency, which goes into circulation in Europe from January 1.
He said: ‘‘This is to do with the commerciality of life and if the market makes it available at a time and in a way that consumers will use it, it will get used, and if they don’t it won’t.’’
Mr Monks said that manufacturing faced a ‘‘bleak outlook’’ and predicted a rise in unemployment next year.
Agreeing that manufacturing faced a ‘‘challenging’’ year, Mr Jones added: ‘‘What this Government has got to do is spend its money on transport, unions and employers ... got to get the skills base up and we’ve got to get productivity up.
‘‘Those are the ways that manufacturing will lead into the next two or three years but the next 12 months is an extremely difficult time if you make things and you sell them anywhere.’’
