DAVID Chaytor, MP for Bury North, would be far better employed calling for an early referendum on entry to the European Monetary Union before the Government spends £29 million in an attempt to bulldoze us into accepting the "inevitability" of entry.

He is reported to have said (Bury Times, March 5) that "the nation's industry could suffer badly the longer Britain delays the inevitable step of entering the single currency".

In fact the opposite is the case. Not only will business suffer badly by entry to the Euro but British society as a whole will suffer a further loss of independence, all forms of democracy and a rise in unemployment.

There is a viable alternative to the single currency and there is no need for Britain to take part in an unproved venture. The alternative is to trade with the whole world, including those countries in Europe that we have traded with for generations.

Entry into the EMU will mean the loss of the power to make our own laws and decide policies. These would be handed over to the unelected, unaccountable European Central Bank in Frankfurt which would control 80 per cent of Britain's gold reserves, would set interest rates and influence exchange rates. There are 18 million unemployed across Europe and the head of the European Central Bank has made it clear that the bank is not interested in jobs or incomes.

Democratic methods of influencing policy would be eroded. The House of Commons would become a "parish council" subject to the rules of unelected commissioners in Brussels.

We, through our elected representatives, should control the movement of capital and the use of interest and exchange rates to protect jobs and industries.

P. KAISERMAN

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