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- Baroness Thatcher accused Tony Blair of seeking to "abolish
Britain" in a speech in which she also said that Michael Heseltine
was a "non-Labour fellow traveller" for supporting a single European
currency.
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- The attack was launched at a dinner of 40 wealthy businessmen
and senior Conservatives, including William Hague, on Monday. Lady Thatcher,
who was guest of honour at the Conservative-organised Keep the Pound campaign
event held at the independent Sussex House School in London, said Labour
would deploy the Government's full resources to persuade people to vote
yes to a single currency in a referendum.
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- She said: "The Prime Minister and his Government
know that on this they must win. For unless they abolish sterling they
will never attain their wider goal of abolishing Britain as a distinct,
self-confident, independent nation. The Prime Minister can claim until
he is blue in the face that the decision all depends on economic criteria
for convergence but this is nothing more than a cynical and ever more transparent
ploy."
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- In a speech which was taped by one of the guests, Lady
Thatcher said that during the Cold War "the Socialists thought their
time had come and today's Cabinet ministers were singing The Red Flag and
hoping the Soviets would win". She made a clear reference to Mr Heseltine,
the former Deputy Prime Minister, whose memoirs are critical of her antipathy
towards Europe, as a "non-Labour fellow traveller".
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- "To all of this, I say: no, no no," she declared,
echoing her famous Commons remarks after the Bruges summit. According to
guests at the dinner, Mr Hague nodded vigorously throughout her speech
and led the audience in warm applause at the end. Lady Thatcher praised
him for "having the guts and patriotism to fight for Britain's sovereignty."
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- The speech appeared to confirm that Lady Thatcher is
ready to play a leading role in the campaign against monetary union. It
will dismay Mr Blair who has attempted to use flattery and informal contacts
to foster friendly relations with Lady Thatcher. He invited her to Number
10 to give him advice during the Kosovo conflict and has praised her strong
leadership.
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- Peter Mandelson, the Northern Ireland Secretary, showed
the Government's anxiety about the single currency yesterday when he rewrote
a speech at the last minute to tone down remarks in favour of it. Mr Mandelson
also had a good word for Lady Thatcher's record. He said: "Thatcherism
halted Britain's relative decline."
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