WHEN the euro was launched, its supporters said Britain would lose out by keeping the pound -- that we would lose jobs and inward investment.

But at the end of 2000 and two years after the launch of the euro, these scare stories have been proved false. Britain has been a magnet for foreign investment during that time and unemployment has continued to fall to the lowest level for more than 20 years.

Investors come to Britain because we have a modern economy, lower taxes and a strong skills base in the industries of the future. But abolishing the pound and replacing it with the euro carries significant costs and risks which would threaten our economic success.

There would be the cost of locking into the wrong interest rate. Britain's economy is out of step with the Eurozone. We do more trade outside the EU than other members; we have a larger service sector; a smaller agricultural sector and we are a net exporter of oil.

The 'one-size-fits-all' standard euro currency interest rate set by the European Central Bank will rarely be right for the British economy. The wrong interest rate will inevitably lead to inflation as it is doing in Ireland.

Remember what happened 10 years ago when the then Government decided to link the pound to the German mark under the system called the Exchange Rate Mechanism? We had the right interest rate for Germany, but the wrong one for us. It was a disaster.

We had sky-high interest rates in double figures before we got out. Companies went bust, hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost and home-buyers found themselves in negative equity.

There would be the cost of higher taxes. Tax harmonisation is now openly on the agenda and leading Eurozone politicians are now saying that agreement on tax is essential to make the euro a success.

And there would be the cost of converting to the euro. Independent accountants have estimated these one-off costs at £36 billion.

In the modern world, the most important thing is that we remain competitive and flexible. The year 2000 proved that we do not need to join the euro to be prosperous and successful.

DAVID BRIGGS, (Chairman,

Business for Sterling North West) Chapel Street, Manchester.