Far from being a land of opportunity, it is a zone in which control is rampant and bureaucrats decide which opportunities each of us should be allowed. Joining the euro under these circumstances will mean that the potential advantages of the single currency cannot in practice be grasped and will further embed a system of rule making that is to the disadvantage of Europe as a whole and of Britain in particular. I used to think that to deal with the EU's limitations we had to get in there and tackle them. Now I believe we can only join the euro when there is unmistakable evidence that the system has changed. The EU is a handicapper, framing ever more complicated rules to ensure everyone in the race hits the tape at the same time.
Excellence is stifled and competition is seen as harmful.
The euro is simply another element of this rule-making capacity. The pressure for harmonisation of everything is increasing to ensure the euro works in the face of the real and inevitable lack of convergence. In the past Britain has wallowed in the mire of over-management. Eventually, we began to walk away. It is crazy to start a rerun now, especially when we look at the rest of the world.