Delay in joining single currency deals blow to pro-euro group

THE pro-euro group, Britain in Europe, is facing a crisis which could deprive it of its leader and cause major rifts within the organisation, it emerged yesterday.

A board meeting has been fixed for 10 September to discuss where the organisation has gone wrong and where it should go in the future.

Britain in Europe was set up to persuade the British public of the benefits of membership of the single currency.

It was supposed to be a cross-party campaigning group, uniting those in the Labour, Liberal Democrat and even the Conservative parties, who backed British membership of the euro.

But there are now divisions in the group with some senior figures wanting to disband Britain in Europe and turn it into a purely Labour Party organisation and others determined to move away from the government in a bid to attract more support.

The future of the head of the organisation, Simon Buckby, is also under threat with some Labour figures understood to be angry with the lack of progress made under his leadership.

Britain in Europe suffered a body blow in June this year when Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that Britain had failed to meet the criteria for entry to the single currency.

Although Mr Brown left open the possibility of British entry at a later date, his announcement caused real problems at Britain in Europe.

It is understood that some staff have already left and others, including Mr Buckby, are considering their positions.

Mr Buckby said after the Chancellor’s decision: "After 9 June, you expect a very large number of people who have been working for us for four or five years to start to look for jobs and move on. I am no different to anybody else."

But the main problems within the organisation are political, with splits emerging between some of the Liberal Democrats, who want Britain in Europe to become more independent of the government and Labour figures, some of whom want to establish a Labour-only group.

Labour insiders said there was a move among some in the party to close the organisation and start again with a new, more effective organisation.

The meeting on 10 September is expected to be acrimonious.

George Foulkes, the Labour MP and member of the advisory board of Britain in Europe, denied there was a crisis in the organisation.

He said: "It was inevitable, when the decision that the five tests had not been met was made and also with the pre-occupation in some sections of the media with the Hutton Inquiry, the focus has been taken away from Europe as an issue and Britain in Europe."

And he added: "I would not say its a crisis, it gives us a breathing space to refocus our efforts and get a leader."

Mr Foulkes said the board meeting on 10 September would be told the results of a internal review of the effectiveness of the organisation.

The MP said that the report would almost certainly praise the Scotland in Europe part of the group, stressing where it had succeeded, in marked contrast to other areas.

Mr Foulkes stressed that the vast majority of Labour MPs backed entry to the euro.

Some leading members of the group are known to be frustrated with the government’s decision not to drive ahead with entry to the single currency.

But the problems in the pro-euro organisation will delight No campaigners, particularly as there have been concerns for months that the pro-euro camp had an unfair advantage because of its support from within government.