§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact on manufacturing jobs of the United Kingdom adopting a common EU currency in its currently proposed form. [9805]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightProtocol No. 11 annexed to the EC Treaty means that the United Kingdom shall not he obliged or committed to move to the third stage of economic and monetary union without a separate decision to do so by the Government and Parliament. The Government will only agree to take part in a single 313W currency if it is in our national interest to do so, given the circumstances at the time. Clearly employment forms a vital part in the assessment of our national interest.
The Government have made no estimates of the impact on manufacturing jobs of the United Kingdom adopting a single currency. It is impossible to say at this stage what the impact will be. Studies by others have produced a wide variation of estimates.