No one who opposed John Major claimed he was lying when he said that taking the pound out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism was in Britain\’s best interests. We confined ourselves to the truthful charge that he had made a monumental policy blunder.
We need a bit of clarification of that. The policy error was getting out? Or the policy error was going in (which Major wasn\’t responsible for)?
No he didn’t take us into the ERM, Maggie did. Under pressure from just about everyone, her own party, the Opposition (Gordon et al) and the commentariat. As I recall there were few voices raised against it, the main being Sir Alan Walters, Maggie’s economic advisor.
Oh, and me of course. But being an 18 year old A level economics student, my views didn’t carry much weight. I was right tho…….
John Major was chancellor when we joined the ERM and he definitely played a big role in that decision.
John Major was chancellor when we joined the ERM and he definitely played a big role in that decision.
Oh indeed. He was one of the ministers who bounced her into joining the ERM after he became chancellor when Lawson resigned. I remember him proudly announcing an interest rate cut of 1% (to 14%) on the day we joined.