The Danish Prime Minister, Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, yesterday refused to concede defeat in his struggle to bring Denmark into the euro zone, despite new opinion polls indicating he will lose next Thursday's referendum on the single currency.
"The battle is not lost," he said. However, yesterday's three polls put the anti-euro side ahead of euro-supporters by 11, 6, and 3 percentage points respectively. However, a significant number of Danes are still undecided. Yesterday's opinion polls put the undecided element at between 13 per cent and 22 per cent.
Divisions within the pro-euro side of the campaign widened yesterday when Mr Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, the former foreign minister and leader of the opposition Liberal Party, blamed Mr Rasmussen for the recent surge in Euro-scepticism.
"The Prime Minister must bear responsibility for allowing the anti-euro side set the agenda and frighten a great deal of voters," he said.
An attempt to unite the three main pro-euro parties into one combined campaign for a final thrust for a Yes collapsed a few days ago when the Conservatives refused to co-operate.
Various conspiracy theories have appeared on the Copenhagen rumour mill, including one suggesting the centre-right opposition would sacrifice a Yes to the euro in order to damage the Prime Minister and seize power in a snap general election.
Special report on Ft.com: www.ft.com/denmark