John Monks
Yesterday evening I attended the John Fitzmaurice Memorial Lecture and listened to the wise words of John Monks, General Secretary of the European Trades Union Confederation. John concentrated his analysis mainly on the way British policy towards European integration was likely to evolve next year (you all know what I mean!). The UK is in a paradoxical situation. Sterling is not in the euro, for example, but some 60% of employees in UK PLCs work for foreign-owned companies. ‘The soggy case for Europe gets nowhere,’ he argued; ‘it’s got to be muscular.’ In effect, he was implying that British pro-Europeans should be preparing for a referendum even if there will not be one. Following on from the Lisbon II referendum result in Ireland, I have met a number of exhilarated Irish colleagues who took time off to go back and fight the good fight. I would relish the prospect. On Europe, the devil definitely does not have all the best tunes. I met a Tory businesswoman in West Malling, for example, who was solidly pro-single currency because she was losing out to transaction costs and exchange rate uncertainties. We should all start limbering up!
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