Ex-BPIF president and W&G Baird chairman Roy Bailie is among the 700 business leaders actively opposing Britain joining the euro.

The debate over the single currency hit the headlines this week with a two-page advertisement in The Times on Monday (3 September).

A picture of Chancellor Gordon Brown in handcuffs with the text if we joined the euro he would lose control of our economy was signed by 715 business and industry chiefs, including printers, bankers and retailers.

In June the BPIF stated that it advocated an early entry into the euro at a competitive rate when it launched Print 21, a part DTI-funded report on industry competitiveness (PrintWeek, 15 June).

I am anti-euro at this moment in time, said Bailie. I would like to see a rational, structured non-party political debate about the single currency. The BPIF took a collective view and within that there were people like me who didnt agree with joining the euro.

Among the other backers of the No campaign were Peter Brown, managing director of press manufacturer Timsons, Close Brothers Group managing director Rod Kent, and Thomas Potts chairman Stephen Hargrave.

Speaking personally, I am against the euro in principle because it seems inevitable that an economic union would lead to a political union, said Hargrave.

As for the printing industry, the high level of sterling has made overseas competition greater, but if we enter the euro now the longer-term implications are worse than the shorter-term ones.

Story by Fay Schopen