Ken Clarke: I was wrong ... the euro is a failure (The Times)

[Anarcho-Socialist]

Ken Clarke: I was wrong ... the euro is a failure
By Greg Hurst, Political Correspondent

KENNETH CLARKE declared the euro a failure yesterday by proving itself unable to usher in a new era of economic reform and higher living standards in Europe.

In an abrupt about-turn from the Conservative Party’s most passionate pro-European figure, he said that conditions had never been right for Britain to join and predicted that it would remain the case for at least a decade.

He spoke out as Tory MPs awaited his confirmation that he will, as expected, stand for a third time to be leader of the party. He has made clear he will do so if he believes he has sufficient support.

His remarks came not in a newspaper or broadcast interview but in a specialist journal, Central Banking. As a seasoned politician, however, the former Chancellor would have known that his remarks would be quickly picked up. By choosing a relatively obscure publication, he might have calculated that any embarrassment in admitting his error over the euro would be lessened.

More at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1747272,00.html
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I think this definitely means that Ken Clarke is standing for the leadership then.

[Maple]

1. Then Labour wins

again

[ikri]

2. Sounds

Like Clarke is distancing himself from his pro-Europe standpoint to gain support for a leadership campaign.

Doesn't necessarily mean that he's suddenly against the Euro, sounds more like Brown's point of view, and I'm sure that if he did become Tory leader he'd adopt Brown's 5 key challenges for joining the Euro.

[T_i_B]

3. The Euro is his stumbling block

so yes, it does look like he is ridding himself of his Europhilia for political ends.

[Kicked in the Taco]

4. Cynicism, thy name is Ken....

[sweetheart]

5. 3 sizes too small; the tory heart problem

Ken Clarke has a shot at winning over Gordon Brown, as blair has been
as destructive to labour as clinton was to democrats. Its as if, if you
are a true labour member, you've been drivin out of the party, weakened
from within by a powerful tory who forgot what party elected him.

So, i'm curious whether ken has the balls to stand on a small "c"
conservative adgenda and promise to end the drugs war. Would he stand
by the principal that "less goverment is more", or would he follow the
bush neo-criminal approach of betraying all conservative tendencies for
pure profiteering and war pilliage. And surely enough, the 19th
century tories were in love with war pilliage, and still today call the
darker skinned folks in the north of england "pakis" unabashedly at the
pub, as if paki is an english word used normally on the bbc.

I still think Ken Clarke would make a fine prime minister, to get back
to more mature politics than letting the daily mail dictate the entire
government adgenda, cowering in fear of fleet street, as if it were
more powerful than the electorate.