Tory leader demands immediate euro vote

Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Party leader, called yesterday for an immediate referendum on the single European currency.

He said there was "no case" that any of the Government's five economic tests for euro entry had been met and insisted the public should be allowed to rule out British entry.

Senior supporters of the euro intensified pressure on the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, not to rule out entry indefinitely. The Government is a month away from its self-imposed deadline for delivering judgement on the five tests.

The pro-euro pressure group Britain in Europe released a detailed report by a commission of 11 leading economists warning that such a decision would cost Britain trade, inward investment and crucial political influence.

Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, warned that sterling would drift into obscurity if Britain failed to join an increasingly powerful euro.

But Mr Duncan Smith said the five tests were a "smokescreen" to cover Labour's need to secure political support for euro entry. He said: "Just as they want to join the euro for political, not economic reasons, so their judgement as to when to join is based on politics, not economics."