Chapter 80 THE CRISIS HITS EUROPE
urope was facing a make or break dilemma, a situation that brought
immense joy to Britain’s Eurosceptics. In the decade that followed WWII,
leaders set out to create a union that would prevent a replay of the events
that had led to two world wars and the recurring strife that had been the scourge of
Europe for centuries.
It was a noble cause and driven by post war growth had functioned to the great
satisfaction of its founders and their successors. Half a century later the EU had
grown to twenty seven states, after expanding to the north and south, and absorbing
several east European countries; former members of the defunct Soviet bloc.
Within its core, the euro functioned as a single currency, controlled by the
European Central Bank in Frankfurt; the most important exchange currency on
world markets after the US dollar.
The economic crisis that commenced in the US with the sub-prime mortgage
disaster and the catastrophic collapse of Lehman Brothers, had crossed the
Atlantic, hammering the British banking system before morphing into a sovereign
debt crisis and finally hitting the single currency with hurricane force.
British politicians gloated as Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain were hit,
blessing the day sterling was forced out of the ERM. Back in 1989, the UK, under
the leadership of Margaret Thatcher and her Chancellor John Major, had joined the
ERM, to the approval of the vast majority of British business leaders.
At that time with inflation out of control and a serious recession just around the
E
corner, the ERM seemed like a suitable remedy for Britain’s ills. Then in
September 1992, amid extreme market turbulence, sterling was forced out of the
ERM.
John Major, who had recommended entry into the ERM, presided over the about
turn, giving new force to British anti-European sentiment. Major had not
understood that the euro was not an economic priority, but a political one, built
around the concept of the EU as set down by its founders.
The fundamental flaw in the creation of the common currency was absence of
fiscal union and a more integrated political structure, something that was in
conflict with the UK’s vision of itself as a sovereign state, with its refusal to be
part of a more unified, self-sufficient, inner core of nations.
The problem for Britain was how to confront a more globalized world. Those
who wished to quit the EU, possibly a majority of Britons, lived in an idealistic
world of make-believe. The inevitable development of that inner core would
change the existing relationship between the UK and its EU partners, perhaps a few
of those left out in the cold by the evolution would join the UK, but any free trade
area would not resemble that of EFTA in which Austria, Finland and Portugal were
Britain’s partners.
It was probably a sign of the times, or the obsessive fear of London’s über rich,
who saw the mob at their doors; whatever the reason it seemed that the business of
equipping their homes with panic rooms and bullet proof doors was booming.
It had never occurred to Kennedy to transform his London apartment into a
bunker; perhaps his Russian friends had brought the fear of lawlessness from
Moscow, where it was common to settle business and political disputes with a
Kalashnikov.
Holding a small cocktail party in his London apartment, he commented on the
view across the Thames to one of his Russian guests. To his surprise it was not the
view that interested his guest, who it appeared was more interested by the
embankment below and its proximity to the apartment building. When asked why,
his reply left Pat perplexed, explaining it was a reflex, just checking security and
access in the case danger.
However, when Pat thought back to the dangers that dogged Russians in London,
he was more understanding. He remembered the Russian spy, Alexander
Litvinenko, who was killed with radioactive polonium and then closer to his own
universe, a Russian banker shot five times by a hitman at the door of his London
home.
In spite of those dramatic episodes, Sergei Tarasov confided to Kennedy, there
was no place safer than London; out of reach of the Kremlin and the opaque world
of Russian crime. Of course Tarasov had little cause for concern, he was thick with
both of those worlds. ‘But you never knew,’ he had said with a conspiratorial wink,
‘things change and sometimes very quickly.’
Tarasov’s home, recently acquired from the destitute Irish tycoon, Desmond
Casey, was fitted with protective bullet-proof windows and doors, two panic
rooms, a CCTV system, and for riposte as he described it, a readily accessible
arsenal of guns and ammunition.
Round the clock security surveillance was ensured by George Pike’s firm, City
Security, which offered its clients a whole range of services in addition to the usual
bullet proof cars and twenty four hour close protection. Pike’s looked after the
protection of high-net-worth individuals and properties, included in his services
were specialized SWAT teams for rapid intervention composed of veterans trained
in the use of the latest weapons and technology on the world’s many battlefields.
