ME and Ophelia

When Gordon Brown brought Lord Mandelson back to the Cabinet many people suggested he was either crazy or touched by genius. Initially it seemed that the move went down very well but today we saw Lord Mandelson commenting upon the euro and the fact that, despite opposition from UK voters, inevitably the pound will disappear in favour of the single European currency. This has caused significant controversy across the UK with Gordon Brown now under pressure to clarify his position on Europe.

This further widens the divide between Labour and the Conservative party with David Cameron adamant that his party will not support a move to a single currency. Lord Mandelson has been suggesting that the collective power of the euro has seen many European economies perform better than they would have by themselves. However, he seems to be missing the fact that the UK economy is now far outperforming its European counterparts and seems set to do so for some time to come.

There is a real danger that Gordon Brown could be "bounced" into a pro-European policy which could, if the recent polls are correct, lose the Labour Party significant voter support in the forthcoming general election.