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comments from readers

William
18 December 2008

no

This currency is awash with dosh from organised crime, which deletes the values that makes our Nation a decent place to live with our families.

Robert Powell
18 December 2008

no

We're doing so well outside it.

tneuvel
18 December 2008

no

the pound is still stronger, why give it up now, we should stick with it and it will grow again.
also for trade purposes there are more currencies to convert to

Carl Jones
18 December 2008

yes

Should have done it years ago. France now has a larger economy than Britain and on a 35 hour working week....next year, Italy is set to pass us by as well.lOl This is what happens when your entire economy is based on housing and the City.

swatantra nandanwar
18 December 2008

yes

Yes. We should have done so years ago when times were good, to protect us when the times went bad, like now.

nakk
19 December 2008

yes

Yes, so long as savers are not penalised yet again by an unfair conversion rate.

suell
19 December 2008

yes

Yes, and I've believed this all along. The argument against seemsed based on sentimentality as much as reason. Sovereignity is a 19th century concept which cannot easily be applied in these days of supranatinal organisations and glablisation. Equally why the attachment to stirling? We no longer have farthings, groats or guineas!

Sue Lloyd

19 December 2008

yes

Yes - it's about time we really joined Europe and our Political Leaders stopped trying to "punch above their weight" and realised that their grand gestures keep this Country poor!

Frank Amies
19 December 2008

no

In the end, we must but not with the present state of the pound. Wait until the euro is worth about 70p, then we should join.

Helen Heenan
19 December 2008

yes

Why not? £1 buys you 1 euro today. Let's join before it gets worse!

Keir H
19 December 2008

yes

Only discredited city financiers, who told the world a pack of lies, would vote no and they still haven’t said sorry.

Ronald W Corbin
20 December 2008

yes

We were told in 1997 "yes but not yet", the pound is a busted flush, if ever there was a time now must surely be it!

amal
21 December 2008

yes

we should agreeeeeeeeeeeee

nawawimohamad
21 December 2008

no

The Pound is still an independently strong currency which has passed the test of time. The Euro is just a recent invention which fluctuates readily. What if the Euro failed the test?

showboater29@aol.com
22 December 2008

no

No way. Made up currency to centralise all the money to move towards the New World Order.

Camus
22 December 2008

yes

If not now, when???

Gerishnakov
22 December 2008

yes

The economic situation is dire; independent or government run it is evident our financial system is inept at controlling itself. The Eurozone currently appears to be faring better then Britain; logically, we should join.

barakeshi
23 December 2008

yes

should britian belong to the european union which she does, then she should do like the rest, submit

Alison Saville
23 December 2008

no

Sovereignty.

comandanteloof
23 December 2008

yes

oh please yes. I live 3 miles from a UK border with the Eurozone (the Derry-Donegal border) I can't tell you the hassle involved in constantly dealing with 2 currencies on one Island when I can fly from Dublin to Tenerife or Greece and not have to put up with that nonsense. Sovereignty me arse. The Empire is dead, get over your delusions of grandeur and get on with it.

marklv
24 December 2008

yes

Yes, yes and again yes. I had initial doubts about the durability and robustness of the currency when the Euro was first introduced, but now the Euro has proved its worth. We must join and be done with it.

max caulfield
25 December 2008

yes

now the wheels have gone off. best get in and be still in a position to dictate things

jetsamoocow
25 December 2008

no

The Euro is a nice idea - pity about national demographic and industrial differences, and the corruption which follows untrammelled power, which make it impossible.

gnuneo
26 December 2008

no

its certainly not clear cut, but i would say that keeping the £ is slightly ahead - it gives the UK more flexibility to deal with the current crisis, and also i expect the Eurozone to experience turbulence as the solider economies of Scandinavia find themselves tied to the weaker European economies.

although i do expect the £ to radically nosedive quite soon. But there IS a small potential for gaining an edge due to our having an independent currency in the long-run during the economic depression.

barakeshi
26 December 2008

yes

Britian is part of the European Union which have one currency called the Euro and therefore Britian should do likewise.

great9122
26 December 2008

no

it is not clear to say to join euro both have to be seperate

no arms
27 December 2008

yes

So that we get rid of the so called 'queens' face.

metos
27 December 2008

no

there will come a time when UK should join the euro but it is not now. Ask again in 5 years.

lse2009
27 December 2008

yes

why hang on to the euro for the sake of patriotic sentiment when the economy would undoubtedly gain by joining

mrandyc
29 December 2008

no

I couldn't care less as to whether the Queen's head is on our currency, but at a time of such economic uncertainty we should be in charge of our own currency.

bmech6
30 December 2008

no

having been born and bred in britain why on earth should we give away one of the last strong holds of our identity and bow down to euro politics.
sterling made this country during the past and the poorer eu states would have a field day if we totaly fell in to bed with the eu .i say screw the eu and lets make britain great again.

bmech6
30 December 2008

no

more rantings
i have just spent three years working in queenland australia and have returned to britain and am totaly dum struck by the state of dear old blighty what on earth have you done mr brown and mr blair
firstly stop jumping into bed with the usa (iraq war has cost lives and our respect world wide)
cut ties with the eu and start to stand on our own feet we are leaders not sheep

bmech6
30 December 2008

no

how many people voting yes on this blog are born and bred english with no overseas connections

bmech6
30 December 2008

no

the queen is the back bone of the british identity
why should we be forced to get rid of her
i swore on the queens coin when i joined up to the armed forces and even though i have no retired i sill stand by that today
pity alot of my generation and younger don t have the same pride in there country

Richard L
30 December 2008

yes

It's arguable that Britain in the eurozone would strengthen the currency. If Britain wants to be in Europe (and it should: it is), then the sooner the better.

t31_mel
30 December 2008

no

at the rate of decline in the pound, what will we get in the conversion from pound to euro, those of us with debt such as bank loans and mortgages will end up paying more back due to the fall in the pound over the past couple of years and the wages we earn will also be significantly less.

malcolmwhitmore
31 December 2008

yes

We need to demonstrate to the world that xenophobia has run its course for Great Britain and that we are putting our shoulder to the wheel of saving the world by strengthening the most amenable power at hand to adopt policies to deal with humanities near to melt down status. We need to abandon our mimicking of the USA,no future in it! .

Richard in France
01 January 2009

no

It's a long process to join the euro club and Britain does not meet the requirements, so why start at such a disadvantage? Edward Heath was right all along, we should have been in there with a vote decades ago.

old tribune
01 January 2009

no

no
Several earlier comments make the case against joining the euro.

Conversion of pounds to euros now would give a poor return for anyone with savings, but I doubt that existing mortgages and loans would be converted in the same way - they would based on original value rather than current pound to euro conversion rates.

Brown is following Blair in destroying our democracy (extreme anti civil liberties measures, Chinese / Middle Eastern ID Card system and NIR database, more intrusive changes like ContactPoint and eBorders, denial of promised referendum on EU constitution, fixed enquiries into WMDs and David Kelly, fixed inquest on police-shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, control of parliament preventing true scrutiny of government) but getting deeper into an undemocratic EU would not help.

Wanting to keep our national identity is not xenophobic, and being in bed with the EU is as bad as being in bed with the USA.

Edward Heath forced us into the EEC without a mandate, and Harold Wilson deceived us about the renegotiated terms of membership - we have never been asked if we want to be in a United States of Europe.

It is time we stood up for British values which we claim to support: freedom of choice, personal privacy, democracy, human rights, civil liberties, freedom from intrusion by the authorities. We should oppose any further loss of sovereignty, should not be fooled by government spin and lies, and use what little power we have by voting out NuLabour as soon as possible.

AfricanSnowman
01 January 2009

yes

Its truly pathetic that people claim a "national identity" by a picture embedded in coinage!!!

Inge MacKenzie
02 January 2009

yes

We have to work much closer with Europe and stop being so insular. Most of all stop comparing everything with USA. Europe is closer to home and more comparable.

Alan Pavelin
03 January 2009

yes

Politicians who support joining in principle always say "when the time is right". The time was right years ago; had we joined then, we would not be suffering the sterling collapse now.

nik
04 January 2009

no

plenty anti british britons around britain these days aint there just.

Bill65
05 January 2009

no

The travel dreams of the Brits are becoming less affordable. Which triggers the wish to go Euro. However, macroeconomic parameters are a lot easier to control in difficult times. Especially for rich countries. That's why I favour independent currencies. The first matter of importance, though, is that bright economists are in charge. To the travellers I'd suggest, just delve into your creative mind and find out money-saving opportunities to compensate for the drop in your pound's value.

Bill Monkau
Middelburg
Netherlands

proudlyleft
05 January 2009

yes

Would be more fun falling together!

Joseph Ferami
06 January 2009

no

I am a fourteen year old, dual citizened student from Nigeria but i know a lot about the economy. I believe that we should not join the euro, because of not only the possibility of being the prime currency, but because of the eternal possibility associated with the rate of the Euro, should it take a plunge. It will also affect the plunging torrent of the standard of British living. Also, when it was needed, we didn't agree and now that it is not needed, we seem to want to use it. The train has passed, and sadly we did not get on board. It's better we start walking or get killed by the impending storm.

WelshPatriot
06 January 2009

no

Britain should also leave the European Union. Trade freely with any country, but be not politically hamstrung to any.
We should be in control of our own destiny.