FOR almost three years, we have been led by a Prime Minister determined to join the single currency, thereby abolishing the pound, and have listened to his so-called reasons for doing so, but they simply do not hold water.

He said that we would be cast adrift, with terrible dangers, so why is it that the pound stays stable against the dollar and the yen? Clearly, Blair and his advisers have got it wrong.

British businesses and the City were going to suffer badly, we were told, and yet what has happened? No less than 40 billion euros a day are being cleared, and our businesses are actually flourishing outside the euro zone. They got it wrong yet again.

If inward investment was supposed to dry up, why is it that we receive more investment from outside Europe than all the Euro zone countries put together?

Time and time again, he has tried to make us believe that we would eventually come to accept that getting rid of the pound was inevitable and that it made sense to replace it with the euro.

Nothing could be further from the truth - you have only to glance at their respective performances to realise just how foolish a move it would be. In spite of this, he is going to spend millions of pounds to try and bludgeon us into accepting financial suicide, when the money would be far better off being spent supporting farming and fishing, not to mention relaxing the absurd millions his red tape is costing business.

The trouble is, it would not end there - because we would then find that we had to have 'tax harmonisation' imposed on us, which would mean a huge hike in our taxes. Far worse, though, is the effect it would have on our pensions, because unlike our system, other pension schemes are largely unfunded, and are stretched to such a degree that they will either have to increase taxation punitively or rat on those who are least able to defend themselves.

If we fail to protect the pound, we would lose control over our own affairs, and would be at the mercy of all those who see us as a soft touch.

We have simply got to protect our pound if we are to save Britain - it really is as simple as that.

GRANVILLE BROADHURST, Sharples Street, Accrington.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.