THE Prime Minister recently praised the former Conservative Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, and said what a good Tory leader he would be.

Well, thank goodness, Mr Clarke is not the leader of the Conservative Party.

If he was, the Prime Minister could call a referendum on whether Britain joins the single currency with the three main political parties all in favour of a 'Yes' vote.

That would not be good for democracy - although I don't think that would bother Mr Blair too much so long as there was a majority 'Yes' vote. He likes to get his own way. With the Conservatives' policy of not joining up to the euro for at least 10 years voters have a real choice and the government faces an uphill battle to persuade a sceptical electorate to vote for the euro and scrap the pound.

A ROWE (Miss), Lammack Road, Blackburn.

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