The call by the French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, for "an economic government for the euro" yesterday fanned the flames of Mr William's Hague's countdown to save sterling on June 7th.
The Conservative leader claimed Mr Jospin's call for "a federation of nation-states" and greater harmonisation of corporate tax rates revealed Labour's "agenda for closer European integration and would prove "a great embarrassment" for Mr Tony Blair.
"Mr Jospin is a close ally of Mr Blair and Mr [Gordon] Brown, so he is setting out the real agenda, and it shows we need a government that will be in Europe but not run by Europe," declared Mr Hague.
But Mr Blair again insisted he did not support the harmonisation of taxes across Europe, saying this was an argument his government had won "every time it has been raised" in the EU.
Returning Tory fire, the prime minister mocked the Conservative Party's "obsession" with the euro, as the Chancellor, Mr Brown, attacked Mr Hague's "desperate" attempt "to turn this election into a single-issue campaign". The Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Charles Kennedy, meanwhile sustained his offensive against the Tories, saying the country would have "a bit of a belly laugh" at the Conservative Party "which took us into the Exchange Rate Mechanism at the wrong rate, then almost had to sell the Crown Jewels to try to maintain sterling's position before its ignominious departure".
Mr Kennedy was responding to Conservative claims that the cost to Britain of converting to the euro would be £36 billion. The chancellor maintained the report on which the Tory figure was based was "not worth the paper it is written on". And the shadow foreign secretary, Mr Francis Maude, later appeared to concede the figure might be wrong.
However, Mr Hague returned to the attack last night, challenging Labour to produce its own cost for conversion, and again to say what the question would be in any referendum on euro membership.
Labour yesterday highlighted its plan for a new £150 million lottery-provided Communities First Fund. The scheme aims to assist deprived areas which have so far not received a fair share of lottery funding for community projects. The Culture Secretary, Mr Chris Smith, announced 50 local lottery funds to be administered by local community groups.
The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, continued to sell their "green" credentials, announcing five pledges for "greener government" in Britain. Mr Charles Kennedy said: "The environment was never on the Tory agenda. It is a low priority for Labour. Liberal Democrats are clearly the country's greenest vote in this election."
But for all Mr Blair's determination to concentrate on health and education, the euro issue followed him, even on a tour of his own Sedgefield constituency. "Keep the Pound" and fuel duty protesters made their presence felt as Mr Blair attended a fete at the Trimdon Grange Community Centre.
Inside the hall Mr Blair ridiculed the Tories' narrow focus on the question of Britain's potential membership of the European Single Currency.
"I know we've got the Conservatives doing their thing about Europe again today," Mr Blair told supporters. "Mr Hague seems absolutely obsessed about the issue of the euro, although I have to say his policies on Europe would actually be profoundly damaging to industry and jobs in this country." He continued: "I will tell you what I'm obsessed about. I'm obsessed about keeping our economy strong, our mortgages low, the number of jobs high, and then putting schools and hospitals first so that we get in the investment we need."
Mr Hague resumed his demands over the euro in BLackpool last night, after the chancellor's refusal to speculate on the terms of the question which would be put to voters in a referendum.