Major Furious' With Clarke On Europe

Senior government sources were quoted by several newspapers as saying Major was very angry at Clarke's overt support for a single European currency.

Major's office said it had no comment on the reports. But senior officials studiously avoided a defence of Clarke's remarks, saying only: The prime minister has made clear that we have a settled policy which stands.

The government's official policy, which Major instigated to try and bridge the yawning divide between pro-Europeans and anti-Europeans in his party, is that it will decide what is in Britain's interests after the single currency is launched.

In an interview during a weekend meeting of European finance ministers in Ireland, Chancellor of the Exchequer Clarke said it would be pathetic for Britain to wait and see how a European single currency developed before deciding whether to join.

 

That would be the worst policy of all of the British doing their traditional business of not be able to make their minds up and then joining late, said Clarke, seen as the most likely successor to Major from the party's left wing.

Clarke's remarks provoked strong pressure on Major from anti-Europeans to ditch Clarke, the most pro-European member of the cabinet, before an election due within eight months.

Major negotiated an opt-out from monetary union when negotiating the Maastricht treaty in 1991. Anti-Europeans want him to rule out entry into a single currency in the life of the next five-year parliament and want that pledge to be a commitment in the election manifesto.

Getting rid of Clarke would be an extremely risky manoeuvre. Markets, who see him as a safe pair of hands and praise his careful management of the current economic upturn, would be dismayed at his sacrifice on the altar of political expediency.

Pro-Europeans would be outraged. They have begun fighting back against opponents they fear are dominating political debate and include senior party figures like former prime minister Edward Heath.

The opposition Labour party is already 20 points ahead in opinion polls. Conservative strategists are worried the issue will dominate their party conference in October. Home secretary Michael Howard, hostile to European integration, said government policy was unchanged.