British businessmen urged to back euro

British manufacturing is in ‘‘meltdown’’ and urgently needs the shot in the arm which membership of the European single currency would represent, a senior union leader declared today.

Addressing a fringe meeting at the Labour Party’s local government and women’s conference in Cardiff, Sir Ken Jackson, leader of the 1.1 million-strong Amicus union - formerly the AEEU - called on businessmen to be more vocal in making the case for euro membership.

They had to contribute to a wide effort to ‘‘face down the anti-Europeans’’, he argued.

Sir Ken told delegates: ‘‘The claims and hysteria of the anti-Europeans make companies less likely to invest here and more likely to go to France or a Poland or Czech Republic that join the euro before us.

‘‘Manufacturing is in meltdown. Nearly 3.5 million jobs depend on our ability to export to the EU. In the first two-and-a-half years since the launch of the euro, managers blamed the volatility of sterling outside the euro for an estimated 115,000 UK job losses. That’s 3,500 jobs a month.’’

In a reference to the Government’s economic tests for joining the euro, Sir Ken went on: ‘‘We all know about the five economic tests. They all add up to this: will it be good for the British people? And that means: will it be good for British jobs? That is the test. That is the question. My answer is yes.

‘‘You can save the pound. But you may lose your job. The British people need the chance to make their choice. In a referendum. In this Parliament.’’

Sir Ken continued: ‘‘Britain is better off in Europe. And worse off outside the euro. We have a duty to be clear on that.

‘‘And I urge others who know the facts, others who know the reality in business and industry, to join me in saying so publicly. To face down the anti-Europeans.’’