UK Plans 'to Join Euro' Dismissed

Claims by the EU commission president, José Manuel Barroso, that the "people who matter in Britain" are currently thinking about the UK joining the euro, were dismissed yesterday, despite the eurozone receiving its warmest praise of recent times from a government minister.

Barroso told French radio station RTL that conversations with British politicians about UK membership of the eurozone had led him to believe that "we are now closer than ever". Barroso, who was in London in November, said UK politicians had told him the economic downturn had made them think, "if we had the euro, we would be better off". Sterling's value has fallen more quickly than other currencies in recent months.

Barroso's comments came after a weekend in which the business secretary and former EU trade commissioner, Lord Mandelson, restated his support for the single currency. Though he made it clear the economic downturn meant "immediate discussion of [euro] membership is off the agenda", he said Europe was the UK's domestic market and the UK's currency was within the eurozone. "I hold to the view that our aim should be to enter the single currency. Within it we'll eliminate transaction costs and be part of monetary policy decisions that so affect us."