British Prime MinisterMr Tony Blair today declared he could win a referendum on the euro, as Europe was set to dominate the latest round of election campaigning.
Liberal Democrat leader Mr Charles Kennedy said he hoped Mr Blair's statement, in an interview with the Financial Times, was significant - but warned Mr Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown had been playing "hard cop, soft cop" on the issue for years.
Mr Blair was due to give his first major campaign speech on Europe later this afternoon, and the UK Independence Party, committed to withdrawal from the EU, was also holding its national launch today.
UKIP promised that a high-profile defector to their cause would be announced today.
Mr Blair, asked by the FTwhether he could persuade voters to support British membership of the euro, replied: "Of course, provided you mount the argument well, provided we are setting out why it is economically and politically in Britain's interest."
Mr Kennedy told his party's election news conference: "I hope it is very significant but I don't think that what the Prime Minister has said in today's interview, alongside what he's likely to say in the speech, can be viewed in isolation."
It had to be viewed beside the speech on the issue Mr Brown gave to the CBI earlier this week.
"This game of hard cop, soft cop, has been going on this issue for the last four years."
The Lib Dems focused on the economy at their news conference. Mr Kennedy said: "The Conservatives were incompetent stewards of the British economy. Boom followed by bust followed by boom followed by bust.
"Labour has done little to address the fundamental mistakes that they made. They starved the public services of investment during their first three years in power."
Both Labour and the Tories were focusing on education at their news conferences, before continuing their clash over Europe and the euro.
PA