The No forces won by default. The clincher came last week when Chancellor Gordon Brown said he wouldn’t look again at the merits of British membership for at least another year. Factor in the prospect of a general election, and no referendum seems possible before 2008. Even the rival Britain in Europe campaign calls prospects for a referendum “vanishingly slim” and plans new tactics. Says the group’s chief economist, Philip Legrain: “We will be focusing on making the case for Europe in general.”
The government’s reluctance to test public opinion can be traced to the latest polls, which show scant 15 percent support for joining the eurozone now. Like the Swedes, who voted against the euro in September, the British fear that ditching their currency would undermine national sovereignty for no clear gain. “People look at the eurozone and see unemployment around double our level,” says No Campaign manager Matthew MacGregor, who is now planning a holiday. “They think that if a small country like [Sweden] can vote to keep its own currency, then why can’t the British?” For the foreseeable future, the Blair government doesn’t care to push the point.
