	lawson says u k election not only ems bar british chancellor of the exchequer nigel lawson said the next u k election was not the only element standing in the way of full british membership of the european monetary system ems but he added that arguments against joining had weakened prime minister margaret thatcher widely believed to be the strongest government opponent of full ems membership has made clear she does not expect to consider joining until after the next uk election due by mid at the latest but lawson in answer to a question told reporters after an informal european community finance ministers meeting here that other factors apart from the upcoming election stood in the way of full membership in addition to the question of the exchange rates at which britain should enter the ems s core exchange rate mechanism there was also the impact of sterling membership on the system to be considered he said british entry would change the ems from a monopolar system based on the west german mark to a bipolar mark sterling system he noted we have to make sure it would work but lawson added that some of the considerations that had made it difficult for britain to join in the past now posed less of a problem as an example he cited sterling s role as a petrocurrency which he said was diminishing that argument has clearly weakened he said lawson restated that the government was keeping the question of membership under review reuter 
