Downing Street sets euro date
Chancellor Gordon Brown will make an official announcement on Britain's decision on joining the euro in the House of Commons on the 9 June.
Link: Euro entry will boost growth
Although the government denies having already made its decision, it is now a widely-held belief that Tony Blair has accepted the chancellor’s view that the time is not right for the country to join the single European currency.
During the next few weeks, leading up to the 9 June, cabinet ministers are set to receive the Treasury’s 2,000 page report on the euro question. This will be followed by meetings between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and with various cabinet ministers.
The week leading up to the announcement will see the Treasury deliver its verdict, followed by another series of meetings before the cabinet takes a final decision on the 5 or 6 June, BBC Online reports.
In an interview with Radio 4, the chancellor defended the way in which the government is making its decision, saying it was not about ‘short term calculations about what is happening here, there and everywhere.’
Rather, he said: ‘It’s about the long term national economic assessments and therefore we have been looking at long term trends and long term issues that affect the future of Europe.’