18 AUGUST 2007, Page 16

Don't credit Brown

Sir: In extolling Gordon Brown's virtues, Fraser Nelson repeats the myth that creating an independent Bank of England was done at Brown's initiative (Politics, 4 August). In fact, as part of Blair's preparation to join the euro in 1997 he had to install one of the pre-conditions of the Maastricht Treaty Article 109e(5). This says that during the second stage of EMU, 'Each member state shall as appropriate start the process leading to the independence of its central bank.' Like so many EU-driven strategies this was done clandestinely, like the more than 2,000 EU directives which become law annually.

Brian J Singleton Baslow, Derbyshire