There is one hole in Francis Beckett's account (What if Smith had lived?, G2, 8 April) – Europe. The John Smith I knew was one of the few senior Labour politicians unequivocal in his support for the European project and a true partner of Jacques Delors's vision of a social Europe. One of the few Labour MPs to have ignored the party's whip, he had the courage to cross the house to vote with the Tories for British entry to the EEC and took on media hostility to Europe, not cowering before it like Blair and others.
In a truer-to-life fantasy… Smith faced down cabinet doubters, particularly Brown, and took Britain into the single currency, arguing that it was "a necessary leap of faith and solidarity taken for a greater good, not a matter for petty national interest". His clear leadership in face of popular opposition established the continuing strength of the euro, which rapidly displaced the US dollar as the currency of reference in the early 2000s and dealt a death blow to currency speculators and short-termists in the City.
Brown's tenure at the IMF, with billions of euros on hand flowing from a decade of revenues from the Tobin tax on financial speculative transactions, was marked by the introduction of financial aid and investment in the developing world that stabilised food prices and practically ended futures trading on essential commodities.
The 9/11 attack was a fantasy Hollywood film of a dystopian future following the election of a preppy Labour leader in the mid-90s whose Trojan horse takeover of the Labour party led to the unbridled growth of free-market capitalism, polarisation and greed in the world.
Peter Brown
Former official of the Party of European Socialists, Brussels