(26 Feb 1997) English/Nat
Britain should stay out of a single European currency unless the terms of entry are absolutely right, opposition leader Tony Blair said Wednesday.
Blair denied charges that a future Labour government would be 'soft' on Europe. He insisted he would stand up to Brussels to defend British interests.
The Labour leader was speaking in an interview with APTV and the Press Association, Britain's domestic news agency.
Tony Blair has been constantly under attack from the ruling Conservatives who say he'd be a soft touch for Britain's European partners.
Blair himself says that's nonsense - and he was talking tough Wednesday as he fielded questions from Internet users.
Was it true he'd yield to Brussels rather than stand up and fight? No way, he insisted:
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I will stand up for British interests and, no, I won't allow the rest of Europe to do that. What we need in Europe is strong leadership, not the weak leadership we've had in the past few years. Now I believe that it is in Britain's interest to remain part of the common market. I think if we pull out of that it would be a disaster for British jobs and British industry, sixty percent of our trade in with the rest of Europe, but we should start leading in Europe, we should start setting the agenda in Europe, making the alliances that will ensure that Britain is taken seriously in Europe again."
CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Opposition Leader
Blair struck a cautious note on whether a future Labour government would join a single European currency - a question that's become a critical issue with Britain just weeks away from a general election.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are not going to go into a single currency at all, unless it is in Britain's national economic interest, unless it's the best thing for Britain. What we want is a government that can make that judgement properly, according to the national economic interest not according to whether it's you know today it's the sort of Redwood/Portillo faction that's got the upper hand or tomorrow it's the Clark/Heseltine faction. You can't run a government like that, and we've made it quite clear that if there's any question of the single currency in the next parliament there will be a referendum for the people anyway and it's what I've called a triple lock on the situation: the cabinet's got to agree, the parliament's got to agree and the people have got to agree."
CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Opposition Leader
This was billed as the first-ever Internet interview, with Blair answering questions put by Internet users.
Britain faces a general election no later than May 1st - and Blair made clear that votes from Internet surfers are just as welcome as from any other source.
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