The City of London will hold its collective breath this morning as it awaits market reaction to a weekend of conflicting signals about the British government's attitude to membership of the European Single Currency. Apparently authoritative reports that the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and his Chancellor, Mr Gordon Brown, are set to rule out membership for the lifetime of this parliament - which could be until 2002 - last night triggered demands for the recall of parliament and warnings of inevitable turmoil on the stock markets.
As the City braces itself for a serious slide in share prices, the Chancellor is scheduled to attend the official opening of the Stock Exchange's new electronic dealing system, dubbed "Big Bang Two".
If London share prices fall sharply today, prices in Dublin will follow, with the major Irish financial shares suffering the brunt of any heavy selling.
Mr Brown last night rejected Conservative demands that he recall the Commons within 48 hours to clarify the position in a statement to MPs. He said he would not be "bounced" into an early statement while parliament was in recess.
However, a former Conservative minister, Mr Peter Lilley, said it was "monstrous" for the government to shelter behind the long recess when it had been decreed by a government which, he said, had "media manipulation at its heart and core".
Mr Brown was forced to speak after a day of mounting confusion about the government's intentions. This was compounded by silence from Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street, coupled with assertions by non-economic ministers that Mr Brown's comments in Saturday's London Times had been misinterpreted and that policy remained unchanged.
In his interview, Mr Brown repeated the familiar line that British entry in 1999 was "highly unlikely". And while Downing Street maintained that the "wait-and-see" position had not changed, it failed to deny the subsequent "spin" - attributed to Mr Brown's advisers - that he was in effect ruling out British membership at least until after the next general election.
A spokesman said: "The Chancellor did not rule out a single currency. He has set out a position and the logical extension is that it is far less likely that Britain will join in this parliament."
The speculation was further fuelled by a seemingly informed report yesterday that Mr Blair and Mr Brown had reached their decision last Thursday after Mr Brown advised that the cost of reducing British interest rates to European levels would see taxes soar by £20 billion sterling.
Yet as Downing Street failed to kill the speculation - which has prompted celebration in sections of the Euro-sceptic press - the Health Secretary, Mr Frank Dobson, insisted the possibility of Britain joining the Euro in this parliament had not been absolutely ruled out. While acknowledging that it was "not very likely", Mr Dobson told the BBC: "Nothing can be ruled out, can it, in this world?"
The minister for open government, Mr Peter Kilfoyle, told BBC's On The Record programme: "As far as I'm concerned, there's been no change of policy. I am concerned with what the politician says, no matter what inflections are put on by the spin-doctor or, indeed, by journalists."
Mr Blair will have the opportunity to set spin-doctors and journalists straight this afternoon after what could prove an uncomfortable meeting with the German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, at Chequers.