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Most Brits reckon Brexit has failed, new poll finds (www.politico.eu)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml
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[–] 7 points 3 years ago (3 children)

Regardless of (arguable) merit, the UK will never switch to the Euro. For all that the British Empire has fallen from glory, the GBP is over 1200 years old which makes it the oldest currency still in use, and it is still a respected & stable currency.
They would never get rid of it for a currency controlled by the ECB, it would be political suicide to even propose such a thing.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 child)

    The name is 1200 years old. But the pound of the 800s was only similar to now in name. Not just decimalization. But we were on the gold standard then. Heck, even pence has changed to new pence.

    In the unlikely event, we are ever willing and welcome to join the EU again. If we are forced to accept the Euro. The EU is very likely to allow us to print our own. And name it as we like. So options can exist.

    As or it being ECB controlled. The idea that any nation has full control over its currency is becoming less logical. As decisions by other nations have too much effect. Back in empire days when the UK had the buying power to effect other nations. The logic existed. But now the events in the US more and more so ECU nations and china. Effect the value of our currency more than actions BOE. Heck, even PM lettuce head was unable to change its value as much as US bank investments in 2008.

    If our buying power continues to drop. There will eventually become a point where the idea of a larger group of nations buying power will appeal. More so as the generation raised in EU membership becomes the elderly voters of today.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago

    The US Dollar moved off the gold standard at about the same time as the British Pound. Yet you can still use a 200 year old dollar bill in the US if you so wish (you just can't redeem it at a bank for gold anymore). Of course if you show up with a 500 year old British Pound and try to pay a fine with it, you'll get turned away, but the point is that it's been in continuous use, so I think it's fair to say it's the same currency.

    Of course those old coins are practically irrelevant to today's fiat currency, but switching from the GBP to the Euro doesn't just mean "yeah fuck it it's all the same anyway". The currency being controlled by the ECB matters a whole fucking lot because the ECB sets (among other things) interest rates. Recent events should put in perspective how important that is: the ECB's 2022/2023 method for raising its interest rates to combat inflation has been "raise them as high as we dare to while not immediately bankrupting Italy because they have a lot of debt". That's a very real fundamental control that the BOE would be relinquishing by switching to the Euro. Having a currency pegged to the Euro still has those concerns, and also I'm not sure the EU would let the UK do that.

    But besides that, I think people do care simply because they like the GBP. Remember that the passport color was somehow a huge thing in the lead-up to Brexit, so I really don't think replacing all those pictures of QEII and KCIII by pictures of fake bridges would go over so well, to say the least.
    Even in my country, one of the most pro-European, pro-Eurozone countries, with a previously tiny currency that no-one else used, lots of reactionaries/conservatives STILL think switching to the Euro was a mistake. And everyone old enough at the time will rant and rant about how "everybody" took opportunity of the currency change to jack up prices.

    I mean sure, if the British economy falls down so far as to become Eastern European tier, then we might see the tides change. But first of all you still have a long way down to go, and second of all I'm not sure the EU would be willing to welcome the UK back in at that point...

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    They might in the future. The exchange rate used to be 5 USD to 1 GBP. The pound seems like it will continue its slide, and I can see the remainers living through this and deciding it is worth giving up the pound for EU membership.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    I didn't realize the pound was the oldest currency still in use. Does that mean you could use coins minted in the 800s as legal tender? (Regardless of the fact that they'd be worth far more than their face value due to their age)

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago

    As of 2020, the oldest circulating coins in the UK are the 1p and 2p copper coins introduced in 1971. No other coins from before 1982 are in circulation. Prior to the withdrawal from circulation in 1992, the oldest circulating coins usually dated from 1947: although older coins were still legal tender, inflation meant that their silver content was worth more than their face value, so they tended to be removed from circulation and hoarded. Before decimalisation in 1971, a handful of change might have contained coins over 100 years old, bearing any of five monarchs' heads, especially in the copper coins.

    There is a continuous history for the GBP from the 800s up to now, but that doesn't make it legal tender. The good news is that they're all worth way more simply because the value of silver is higher than the face value of the coin.

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