CAMPAIGNERS aim to warn the people of East Lancashire against the dangers of being short-changed by the euro.

Members of the East Lancashire branch of The Democracy Movement will begin their campaign by handing out leaflets to town centre shoppers in Burnley and Clitheroe on Saturday.

They claim Britain is in danger of sleepwalking into what will eventually become a United States of Europe run by "unsackable, faceless Brussels bureaucrats who care nothing for Lancashire."

The Democracy Movement is an offshoot of the Referendum Party which campaigned against Europe in the general election.

Secretary Graham Cannon said it was set up to stop the Government abolishing the pound.

He said: "We offer a voice to the millions of people in this country who don't want to join the single currency, the euro, and become citizens of a European union superstate." Supporters of the euro, which was launched on the money markets this week, are urging people not to dismiss the monetary changes.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has issued a "Don't give the euro a pounding'' plea and said it was in everyone's interest for it to be a success. He said: "There are some people who are determined to give the euro a pounding, even if it brings stability and prosperity, regardless of the consequences to the UK.

"The British Government's position is crystal clear. We would consider joining the euro if it is in the UK's economic interests and no decision will be made without going through a triple lock procedure, a recommendation from the Cabinet, a majority vote in Parliament and the consent of the people in a referendum.''

Mr Cannon, who is managing director of Worms Eye site investigations, Bank Parade, Burnley, added: "So many people you speak to in East Lancashire and elsewhere are very sympathetic to our aims.

"But they tend to be apathetic and think the issue is above them and is something which is happening far away and over which they have no say.''

Mr Cannon said Britain was under pressure from the EU to abolish the pound and let the European Central Bank in Frankfurt take control of the British economy.

He said economic and monetary union was about much more than just notes and coins and added: "It's about who has the power to fix our interest and mortgage rates, who sets the taxes we pay, who controls our gold reserves and how we fight unemployment in a recession. At the moment if the Government mishandles the economy we can remove it from office. But if we join the euro we will have lost that power forever."

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