A short item in the Guardian business section tells us more about the single currency than many pages of misty-eyed rhetoric about being at the heart of Europe. To avoid breaching the budget deficit limits of the stability pact, the German finance minister said that his government "would seek to plug the gap in 2005 through further privatisations and subsidy cuts" (Germany falls deeper into stability pact breach, May 14).
The single currency and the stability pact make up a monetarist package that isn't friendly to public spending. Despite this, the myth persists that all progressives are in favour of it and all its opponents are sentimental reactionaries.
Brian Fewster
Published and promoted by Brian Fewster on behalf of the Green Party and himself as candidate at 89a Winchester Avenue, Leicester LE3 1AY.
Green party European Election Candidate for the East Midlands
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