Bank of England says ‘yes’ – cautiously
The Bank of England has given a balanced and cautious assessment of the benefits of Britain’s EU membership. Its governor Mark Carney said this week (21.10.15):
‘Overall, EU membership has increased the openness of the UK economy, facilitating dynamism but also creating some monetary and financial stability challenges for the Bank of England to manage. Thus far, we have been able to meet these challenges.’
A cautious balance of views is the public style of the UK central bank and Mark Carney was no doubt pleased the next day when leading papers read the speech in differently nuanced ways.
The right wing Daily Telegraph commented that the governor did not give wholehearted support: ‘. . . Carney said the EU helped UK “dynamism”, but the Bank of England’s report didn’t exactly provide a resounding endorsement’.
The liberal, left Guardian was much more wholehearted. It commented that ‘He spoke of the UK having made a handsomely winning bet on “openness par excellence”, and argued that Europe was a big part of that. He called Britain the “leading beneficiary” of the four founding EU freedoms . . .’.
Privately, Mr. Carney will be happy to read this range of views.
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