Peter Hain: Labour's left must line up for the euro

From a speech at the Independent's fringe meeting in Blackpool by the Minister for Europe

The history of the Labour Party's policy on Europe is littered with missed opportunities and wrong policies. Clement Attlee's Labour government failed to ensure Britain was one of the founding fathers as the new Europe emerged from the ashes of war. We stuck our heads in the sand under Hugh Gaitskell and allowed Macmillan to miss out at Messina on the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

Only when the economy hit the rocks did Harold Wilson admit that we needed to be part of Europe. But we'd missed the boat and he led his MPs into voting against the Tories in 1971. For the next 10 years, Eurosceptic rhetoric dominated Labour, until Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair gave consistent pro-European leadership – all the time opposed by Labour's left.

Like most people, I'm not fanatically pro- or anti-euro. For me, it's a practical issue about Britain's interests. Gordon Brown's economic assessment of the conditions for joining the euro will be rigorous and hard-headed. Rightly so. Entry should be recommended only if the five tests are met.

So why are some trade unions now opposing the euro even before that assessment is made? And why on earth should the Labour left want to line up in the "no" campaign alongside the anti-Labour hard left, Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit?

Instead we should unite to shape a European Union committed to full employment, social justice and equal rights. A dynamic Europe based upon competitive enterprises with high-quality skills and technology, and underpinned by the stability of the euro.

The left has a great opportunity to engage in shaping a modern vision for Europe. My question to others on this left is: whose side are you really on?