Sir: Left-wing supporters of EMU favour the single currency because they believe that greater power for the EU will protect the UK from the excesses of free-market capitalism. Right-wing supporters of EMU believe that the single currency will further instill the ideas of free markets and freer movement of factors of production at a more international level. Both are wrong.

A broader, freer market will inevitably cause greater income differentials within the EU, nullifying the arguments of the left. The interventionist tendency of newly elected left-wing governments across Europe will offset the gains from monetary union envisaged by pro-Europeans of right-wing tendency.

MARTIN RUTHERFORD

Newcastle upon Tyne