LATEST opinion polls suggest that a clear majority of people are opposed to Britain joining the European single currency. So let me antagonise all the Euro-sceptics by saying that the majority are simply wrong!

I am not surprised by the poll findings. People here are fed a daily diet of lies and distortions about Europe which the Government does precious little to counter. Sensible debate about series issues gets buried beneath a torrent of anti-European propaganda which too often is xenophobic or so crudely nationalistic as to be downright evil.

The Euro is now established as one of the three leading currencies in the world. For those within the zone it means a currency free from the "Black Wednesday" speculation which has hit the pound in the past. It means low inflation, reduced interest and mortgage rates, easier access to a bigger market, more investment, and greater prosperity.

I am sure the Euro-sceptics are delighted with the short-term position of the pound rising to record levels. They are the same sort of people who would take delight in cutting off their nose to spite their face. The high pound has given house-buyers here the highest mortgage rates in Europe. It has cost us more than 140,000 manufacturing jobs over the past 18 months, and even now it is preventing manufacturing industry from making the profits needed to invest in the future.

Our agricultural exports are hit too. The National Farmers' Union tell me that agriculture would still have problems if Britain was now in the Euro, but that those problems would be much less than they are in reality.

Tony Blair, Charles Kennedy and Kenneth Clarke want Britain to join the Euro "when the time is right". So does the CBI and the TUC. On the other hand Arthur Scargill, Margaret Thatcher and William Hague want us to stay out.

However we vote in a referendum, the Euro will still have a huge effect upon our trade and our lives. Decisions about our future are being made at this moment without Britain contributing because we have chosen to stay out of the room.

I see the Euro as part of Britain's future, and when the time comes I will be voting for Britain to join the single currency at the earliest practical date.

CHRIS DAVIES MEP,

Liberal Democrat,

North West.

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