Madam, - Your correspondent Denis Staunton writes that if the UK does not join the euro zone Britain has no prospect of taking a leadership role in EU in the next few years.
I find it hard to follow his reasoning, bearing in mind that staying with sterling has resulted in the UK having some control over its fiscal destiny rather than being constrained by diktats from the European Central Band which may be incompatible with national interests.
Staying out of the euro has resulted in the UK being the economic powerhouse of Europe. The ECB may be nominally based in Frankfurt but real decisions regarding the euro's value are made in London where each day more euro are traded than in all the other member-states put together (see latest edition of Newsweek). The new member-states look to the UK for economic inspiration and not to the failed economic mantra churned out by a French-dominated EU. The UK is the first-choice destination for economic migrants from inside and outside the EU. We should also remember that the Celtic Tiger economy is based on a model akin to that of our closest neighbour rather than to that of France or Germany. - Yours, etc,
V. HARTY, Holywood, Co Down.