After that last ordeal, the Bank has been understandably reticent about being seen to influence the path of its currency overtly. Yet is it any surprise that it lobbied so hard behind the scenes for Britain to remain out of the euro? Robbed of the ability to devalue the currency, Britain would have had little option in this current crisis other than to deflate: to raise taxes, slash spending and suffer the mother of all recessions. Look no further than across the Irish Sea, where Dublin is braced for its toughest year in living memory as it is forced – sitting within the straitjacket of the euro – to take precisely this medicine.