From The Telegraph: Britain will have to join the euro, says Tory grandee Lord Heseltine
Britain will soon have no choice but to join the euro, Tory grandee Lord Heseltine has claimed, as tensions grow over the eurozone's slow-moving efforts to get a grip on the spreading debt crisis.
The former deputy prime minister, a long-time supporter of the single currency, said the public had "no idea" about the potential impact its collapse would have on the UK.
But he believes Franco-German determination will secure the euro's future and pave the way for Britain to sign up.
Both the Coalition and the Labour Party have ruled out adopting the euro in the foreseeable future.
Last month Prime Minister David Cameron suffered the biggest ever Conservative revolt over Europe as more than 80 Conservative MPs defied his orders and backed a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
German Finance Minister Says UK will Join Euro
Please consider Britain 'will join euro before long’, says German finance minister
Wolfgang Schäuble said that, despite the current crisis in the eurozone, the euro will ultimately emerge as the common currency of the entire European Union. He said he “respects” Britain’s decision to keep the pound, but insisted that the survival and eventual stabilisation of the euro will convince non-members to join the currency club. “This may happen more quickly than some people in the British Isles currently believe,” he added.
Mr Schäuble also said Germany will stand firm on its call for a financial transaction tax that Britain believes would badly harm the City of London.
Sir John Major, the former prime minister, warned last night that the growing integration of the eurozone nations threatens democracy in those countries. He told Al Jazeera television that richer euro members led by Germany and France will “insist on moving towards what we call fiscal union. By that I mean common control over budgets and fiscal deficits”.
Sir John, who advises David Cameron on foreign policy issues, also described the banking transaction tax as “a heat-seeking missile proposed in continental Europe, aimed at the City of London”.
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