Letter: Euro influence

Published on Tuesday 24 May 2011 18:56

Jim Fairlie (Letters, 24 May) seems permanently stuck in a time warp with his various narrow nationalist statements.

In his latest epistle he berates the continued control of monetary policy by London on Scottish independence, prior to Scotland potentially joining the euro.

Currency unions such as the one proposed between an independent Scotland and UK are, however, hardly unique.

The UK and Ireland were in a currency union until 1979, and likewise Belgium and Luxembourg were in a currency union between 1922 and the introduction of the euro, with the Belgian franc and Luxembourgian franc set at fixed parity.

There are currently around 15 currency unions in the world, ranging from the euro to the use of the Swiss franc by Liechtenstein and Switzerland. There are also a number of proposed currency unions, including the merging of a number of West African states with the West African franc.

The issue here is ensuring there is Scottish influence in the setting of interest rates and controlling monetary policy, a situation which is lacking at present and something an independent Scotland could undertake through involvement in the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.

Alex Orr

Leamington Terrace

Edinburgh