London - The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, last night finally confirmed that a future Labour government would assess whether Britain should join the euro within two years of winning the next election.
His surprise announcement came at Prime Minister's Question Time in advance of a speech today where he will lay out themes of Labour's election campaign.
Mr Blair has in the past refused to speculate on the meaning of his party's slogan that five economic tests for British membership of the single currency would be judged "early in the next parliament".
But yesterday he replied to a surprised Tory leader, Mr William Hague: "Early in the next Parliament would, of course, be within two years."