Britain WILL join the euro, Heseltine says... as he claims Thatcher would vote to STAY
MARGARET Thatcher would have voted to remain in the European Union, her arch rival within the Tory party has insisted.
Margaret Thatcher's rival Lord Heseltine claims she would back Brussels
There has been debate on both sides about whether the ex-Prime Minister would have supported them in the June 23 referendum.
But Lord Heseltine last night said Ms Thatcher knew Britain's interests were "inextricably interwoven" with Brussels.
The Tory grandee and former Deputy Prime Minister also predicted the country would adopt the euro in future, but "there's no hurry".
She would have voted to stay in
He told the New Statesman: "She would have voted to stay in. That's what she always did.
"She knew that Britain's self-interest was inextricably interwoven with Europe.
"And that's why she was personally responsible for the biggest sharing of sovereignty in British history – the Single European Act."
The Tory grandee, with David Cameron, also said Britain would join the euro
Despite the crisis in the eurozone, Lord Heseltine, expressed his continued belief that the UK would eventually give up the pound.
He said: "One day, we will join the euro. There's no hurry and I don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime. It'll be controversial.
“But when we adopted the metric measurements, there was great controversy over that – the metres and the litres. Nobody can remember what the argument was.”
The grandee went on to criticised the way that London mayor Boris Johnson had decided to campaign for Brexit.
He said: "I was disappointed he was able to resolve these huge issues in so short a period of introspection."
The 83-year-old added: "But I'm not going to get involved in the personalities of this issue. Boris must explain himself."