Black (White?) Wednesday

The day many Britons woke up to the folly of European integration and when the Tories mislaid their reputation for economic competence.

When was the most significant date in recent British political history?  The May 1979 election of Margaret Thatcher and the beginning of her supply-side revolution?  Her ousting in November 1990?  The 1994 election of Tony Blair as New Labour leader and his 1997 landslide?  The beginning of the war on terror on 11th September 2001?

All of these dates are significant but a very good case can be made for 16th September 1992. Fleet Street called it Black Wednesday… Norman Tebbit, ever the contrarian, called it White Wednesday…

The case for calling it Black Wednesday

A few months before 16th September 1992 John Major had won a Commons majority of 21. The Conservatives’ fourth successive General Election victory had been secured in the middle of a deep recession. The Daily Mail called Britain the ‘land of hope and Tory’. Many over-interpreting commentators decided that the Tories had become unbeatable.

Placing Britain ‘at the heart of Europe’ had been one of John Major’s signature soundbites and membership of Old Europe’s Exchange Rate Mechanism had been the proof of his intentions. Most economists had agreed that interest rates were being kept high because of the need to maintain an artificial exchange rate objective. British industry and homeowners were crying out for lower interest and mortgage rates but rates of 12% to 15% were necessary to keep the pound close to the EU bureaucracy’s target (the midpoint of which was 2.95 German Marks). Britain spent as much as £27 billion trying to buck the market but eventually the foreign exchange dealers – led by George Soros - threw Britain out of the ERM. It was the day that ‘broke the Bank of England’. Cabinet minister David Mellor’s marital infidelity had been occupying the tabloids and The Sun’s infamous next day headline - Now We’ve All Been Screwed By The Cabinet - seemed spot on.

The Tories started to be massacred in parliamentary by-elections and lost town hall after county hall. The Conservative poll rating plunged to the low 30s – sometimes dropping into the 20s. The Tories flatlined in the polls for more than a decade after Black Wednesday. Although Labour leaders John Smith, Margaret Beckett and Tony Blair all supported ERM membership, the public’s anger was directed squarely at the Tories.

The case for calling it White Wednesday

Some did not see September 16th in such dark terms, however. Then Chancellor Norman Lamont – who soon became the scapegoat for John Major’s policy – was reported to have been singing in the bath after sterling had been forced out of the ERM. Suddenly he could set interest rates that were right for Britain – not for Europe. Interest rates soon tumbled, green shoots of economic recovery sprang forth and Britain started to enjoy its longest post-WWII growth period.

Lord Tebbit of Chingford welcomed White Wednesday’s power to turn Britain in a Euro-sceptical direction. People who had lost jobs, bankrupt businessmen and homeowners with negative equity had all paid dearly for a zealous pursuit of the European project. Again and again Euro-sceptics have warned the British people that European Monetary Union is a permanent form of ERM. William Hague likened British membership of the ERM to finding oneself in a burning building. Membership of the eurozone would be worse, however. Irreversible, it would be like occupying a burning building without any exits.

Keeping Britain out of the euro has been just one example of the way Conservatives have often governed by proxy.

The Tories May Have Floundered Since Black Wednesday But Euro-Scepticism Has Blossomed Since White Wednesday.

Comments

[UGG stovler for born stikkontakt]

Keep up the good job and delivering in|generating} the group!
UGG stovler for born stikkontakt http://www.danhostel-roenne.dk/ugg-outlet/UGG-stovler-for-born-stikkontakt.html

[sale UGG stovler]

Love the site-- extremely user friendly and lots to see!
sale UGG stovler http://www.danhostel-roenne.dk/ugg-outlet/sale-UGG-stovler.html