Mr Tony Blair's determination to present a united front on the euro took a serious blow yesterday when a former government adviser claimed disagreements within government could delay a British referendum.
As Downing Street insisted the government spoke with "one voice" on the single currency, the chairman of Unilever, Mr Niall Fitzgerald, warned the Prime Minister he risked losing the support of business for British membership of the euro if he allowed uncertainty over the timing of a referendum to continue.
Meanwhile, senior ministers defended the government's decision to accept a pay rise that Mr Blair and his Cabinet had declined since 1997, raising the Prime Minister's salary by over £47,000 to £163,418. But it was revelations by Mr David Clarke, former special adviser to Mr Robin Cook, about the government's difficulties over the euro that set Westminster alight.
Mr Blair's positive stance on joining the single currency is counterbalanced by the cautious approach adopted by the Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, and the government's position is that it will not recommend membership of the euro unless five key economic tests are met. But Mr Clark, who worked with Mr Cook for seven years until the general election, yesterday claimed the economic tests were not set with Britain's interests in mind, but Labour's "electoral prospects".
In an interview with BBC Radio 4 and in an article in yesterday's Guardian, Mr Clark exposed the tensions at the heart of the Labour administration over the euro. Speaking on Radio 4, he said the government's economic tests were used as a "delay" tactic to ensure Labour won a second term and he warned that putting off a referendum until midway through the second term of the administration could see Mr Blair losing the euro argument with voters.
In his article for the Guardian, which was written before the election and without the former foreign secretary's sanction, Mr Clark declared that if he was left to his own devices, Mr Blair would put the case for the euro, "but he does not have the nerve.
"Without a shadow of doubt he wants to join the single currency, but he has not been willing to take on his chancellor. It is difficult to know what Gordon Brown's true views are, but his influence so far has been wholly negative and is almost certain to continue to be so . . . He [Mr Blair] will need to stand against public opinion on a point of principle and have the courage to risk defeat in the process. He will need to pick a fight with the political editor of the Sun and hold his nerve for more than 24 hours."
And he claimed the pro-euro Mr Cook was repeatedly prevented by people at "the very top" from even mentioning the government's policy on the euro. Mr Clark wrote: "I observed how even the most limited attempts to present some of the arguments were closed off by a leadership too frightened to share them with the electorate."
The Prime Minister's official spokesman insisted the economic tests were "real" and said the government would not "bounce" voters into a referendum. But the call for Mr Blair to take a lead on the euro was echoed by the former Labour minister, Lord Simon of Highbury, who urged the government to present the case for joining the single currency, producing "a clearer timetable" later in the year.
And the shadow foreign secretary, Mr Francis Maude, insisted Mr Clark's comments exposed "the wrangling and dishonesty" at the heart of Labour.
Meanwhile, the former Europe minister, Mr Keith Vaz, who left government on Monday, explained his ministerial career had ended due to ill health. Downing Street subsequently released a letter to Mr Vaz from Mr Blair in which he thanked him for his contribution to government.
The euro is too weak for the pound to join the single currency, Bank of England governor Sir Eddie George warned.