GOTHENBURG, Sweden, June 15 - Britain's new Minister for Europe Peter Hain said on Friday that London should take a cautious approach to possible entry to the euro single currency.
Speaking to at the European Union summit in Sweden, Hain, who only became Europe Minister last week after Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair won a landslide election victory, said the debate over the euro in Britain should be cooled.
"We've got to cool the debate and do everything step by step and very cautiously," Hain said. Hain's view was echoed by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who also took up his new post last week.
Straw said Britain should take time for a "period of calm reflection" on whether or not to join the 12-member currency club. "It is important that if the case is made (for euro entry) the case is made calmly," he said.
Blair, who trounced opposition Conservatives in general elections last Thursday, has pledged to take Briatin into the euro only if the economic conditions are right and only after the British people approve such a move in a referendum.
Blair's only promise is to make a judgment of Britain's readiness to join within two years. He has declared that a referendum is winnable, although opinion polls show a majority of Britons oppose scrapping the pound in favour of the euro.