Euro Changeover Plan (Hansard, 25 October 2000)

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, the Government's policy on membership of the single currency remains as set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in October 1997 and restated by the Prime Minister in February 1999.

§ Lord Astor of Hever
My Lords, in the light of the Prime Minister's U-turn and the increasingly unlikely chance of early UK entry into the euro, does the Minister agree that further expenditure on the changeover plan is a waste of taxpayers' money?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, the Prime Minister's comments to journalists last week are entirely consistent with my Answer and with the Government's position. We have always said that to take a decision before the election would not be realistic and that we would therefore not recommend it to Parliament or to the people. In the remote possibility that someone else presented it to the people, it is hardly inconsistent that the Prime Minister would say, "No". That is entirely consistent.
It has been made clear from the beginning that expenditure on the changeover plan is posited on the fact that the euro will be adopted in at least 11 countries and that we have to be prepared for it. We need a changeover plan to deal with both our trading 326 relationships with euroland and in order to present a realistic alternative if and when a decision is taken by the people of this country.

§ Lord Shore of Stepney
My Lords, recognising my noble friend's deep and abiding affection for the euro, but recalling and recognising the demands for collective ministerial responsibility, would it be unfair to ask him whether, if he were asked today how he would vote in a referendum on the euro, he, like the Prime Minister, would say "No"?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, my position is the position of Her Majesty's Government. I do not know why so many noble Lords are determined to get me to say something different when they know very well that I will not do so. If I say the same thing often enough perhaps at some stage someone will start to believe it. If not, I shall cut a disc in time for it to get into the top 10 for the Christmas season.

§ Lord Barnett
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, however irrational we may be on either side of the argument, the plain fact is that 11 member states have agreed to use the euro and in just over a year it will be their currency? Does he also agree that my noble friend the Prime Minister would not say "No" to voting about the euro tomorrow?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, I am always warned about my noble friend Lord Barnett; lie asks tricky questions. The answer is that the Prime Minister said "today" and not "tomorrow".

§ Lord Marsh
My Lords, does the Minister agree that most companies which trade internationally are perfectly capable of switching from one currency to another currency? Some 75 per cent of British companies have no business overseas anyway.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, all I can say is that those companies which do trade with Europe have welcomed the national changeover plan. There has been a very good take up of the material available and industry bodies, both individually and collectively, have welcomed it.

§ Lord Tebbit
My Lords, does the Minister think it was good value that a health authority as small as Buckinghamshire was faced with expenditure of £1.5 million this year on preparing for the euro? Is that good value for money in the National Health Service?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, is the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, saying that the Buckinghamshire health authority spent £1.5 million on preparing for the euro? I should be glad to have further evidence of that. My information is that the public sector is making small, targeted investments as part of the modernisation of public services in order that we can make a smooth and cost-effective transition. If the 327 noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, has more detailed information on the Buckinghamshire health authority, I shall be pleased to hear it.

§ Lord Newby
My Lords, does the Minister agree that if we are to avoid further major losses in manufacturing—such as we saw yesterday in South Wales—we need a clearer statement of policy from the Government in regard to the timing of entry into the euro, rather than contradictory statements by the Prime Minister which seem to be based on the findings of his latest focus group?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, business needs consistency in policy and consistency in achievement. This has been confirmed by the success of our economic policy over the past three-and-a-half years. Neither the business community nor anyone else would thank us for veering from one side to the other on any of these issues. There is nothing inconsistent between what the Prime Minister said and the Government's policy since 1997.

§ Lord Tomlinson
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the essential difference between the Government's policy and the policy of noble Lords opposite is that the Government will trust the British people with a decision when the time is right whereas they would keep the decision to themselves by ruling out, in all circumstances, the possibility of joining the euro in the next Parliament?

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, my noble friend is right. It has been the consistent policy of the Government since 1997 that when the economic conditions were right we would make a recommendation to Parliament and then to the people of this country. I have heard no such suggestion from the Opposition.