Concentrating on the issue of the Single European Currency, the euro, Portillo argued that the EU was being damaged by its one size fits all interest rate policy. Some senior Labour figures feel that raising the question of Europe is a risk for their party with two-thirds of the country, according to opinion polls, currently opposing the idea of joining a single currency. But Blair has told the Financial Times newspaper that he is confident he can win a referendum on the subject which he has promised the British people if Labour is re-elected. The demands which the Conservatives are making for the repatriation of some law-making from Brussels to Britain and for renegotiation of a number of treaties and agreements would be unlikely to be conceded by the other EU members whose consent would be required. That, Blair argues, means that Britain would be isolated in Europe under the Tories who might then threaten withdrawal.
Few voters choose their governments on foreign policy questions.
Opinion polls show Europe ranking no higher than sixth or seventh as one of the issues on which people will determine their vote. But in what has been an otherwise bland election, Europe does provide sharp divisions between the major parties. It will bring heat, if not necessarily light, to the latter stages of the campaign. Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. An AOL Time Warner Company.