Poll shows little support for joining euro despite pound's fall

[Legal Beagles]

The sharp fall in the pound against the euro over the past six months has not led to an upsurge in British support for joining the euro, a poll has found.
Some 71% of people are against entering the European single currency, with only 23% in favour, according to the ICM survey for BBC Radio 4's the World At One.
The euro has achieved parity against the pound making the cost of overseas holidays more expensive, but there is no sign this is leading to a rethink in the British public's attitude to the euro.
With British interest rates likely to remain below those of the eurozone for some time to come, it is expected that the pound will continue to fall, possibly putting pressure on the Bank of England to raise rates earlier than it would like.
The ICM poll found that 69% of people felt recent changes in the exchange rate made no difference to whether Britain should join the single currency, while 14% said it made them less inclined. Only 15% said that the pound's fall made them more keen on ditching sterling for the euro.
It is possible those figures will change when larger numbers of British holidaymakers this summer feel the impact of sterling's fall on their purchasing power.
Sterling's fall may continue in 2009, said Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax. "The financial markets appear to be reacting to the belief that the already record low bank rate of 2% could be cut further in the new year."
The weakness of the pound is also linked closely to Britain's public finances and debt levels, which have been deteriorating as the country sinks into recession. The government is expected to publish new figures for bank lending to business today which will reopen the debate on whether the banks have responded properly to government recapitalisation.
The Conservatives have sought to exploit speculation that Labour might wish to join the euro by emphasising that Britain would never join the single currency under a Tory government.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said yesterday the fall in the pound's value did not mean Britain should join the euro, arguing instead that "since the interest rates in the eurozone have been lower than ours for many years, it is fair to assume that had we been in the euro all this time Gordon Brown's boom would have been even more unsustainable".
The Tories have been pushing the issue partly to ward off a split among eurosceptics during European parliament elections in June. The election will see Tories challenged from the right by the UK Independence party, the BNP and Libertas. The pro-European business secretary, Peter Mandelson, reiterated government policy recently by saying it was its aim to take Britain into the euro. But he stressed the matter was unlikely to be discussed seriously for the foreseeable future.
Caroline Flint, the Europe minister, said the euro was "a non-debate at this time". The government and public were focused on jobs and recession, she told the BBC.
Last month the European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, said "people who matter" in UK politics were contemplating giving up the pound.

• Euro
• European Union
• Currencies
• Recession
• Economic policy

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Re: Poll shows little support for joining euro despite pound's fall

That won't be a big shock will it?
I think we are finally sick of being ripped off and slowly but surely, seeing the light.
Decimalisation was the 1st, then I don't know personally any one who voted for the Common Market lol but next day we were in.
Most recently the banks and other money institutions, which makes me think if we did take on the Euro, we would be in for another good miliking.