CITY AND SUBURBAN
There's danger ahead, Poppa Eddie tells the crowds in Threadneedle Street
CHRISTOPHER FILDES
Thousands of workers jostled in Thread- needle Street to cheer the man they call Poppa Eddie. He may be at odds with the Government, but the people are behind him and his monetary policies. They car- ried banners telling ministers 'No to your games — where's the bread?' Appearing on his balcony, the Governor warned of the dangers ahead. Later, his directors dis- tanced themselves from him, saying that they could not agree that he was the only person allowed to speak for the bank. . . . No, hang on a moment. This seems to have been happening in Belgrade, where Gover- nor Dragoslav Avramovic was cheered to the echo by a crowd of tractor-builders who have nicknamed him Grandfather Abra- ham. They hope that he can stop their pay- cheques bouncing. Back at home, Poppa Eddie George thinks that his monetary policies are doing rather well, with inflation still quiescent. It is Europe's monetary poli- cies that worry him. In Milan this week he warned of the dangers ahead. Enforcing a single currency, he said, could lead to eco- nomic shocks, to financial tensions and political discord, to high unemployment in sluggish economies and so to emigration the tidal wave of Manuels flowing out across the Pyrenees — or even to protec- tion, the polar opposite of a common mar- ket. If he goes on like this (and he is going on like this) the Governor will set off reso- nances. He is speaking with full weight on the future of the pound sterling, which is his prime responsibility. If ministers do not like what he says, they can lump it. If other people like it, they are free to cheer, and to tell ministers 'No to your games'. I look forward to seeing them all in Threadneedle Street.
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