An opinion poll in yesterday's Guardian showed a big jump in the proportion of people supporting the UK joining the Euro. Up to 36%. Those against are still a majority. The rise of 7 points appeared to be a move by the undecideds. Women are much more against. Men are close to evenly divided. Opinion against the Euro is much stronger in "classes" D and E (semi-manual and manual) possibly reflecting the campaigning of Murdoch's paper The Sun (what's in it for him?)
The article discussed the dilemma of the Labour Government that it wishes to continue to make positive noises towards Europe but regards a referendum on Europe before the next election as political suicide. It therefore promotes speculation and preparatory moves about the Euro on the grounds that the Euro cannot be ignored. But my guess is that it cannot move until UK capital decides overwhelmingly that entry is necessary and funds a massive campaign largely independent of the government.
It is interesting in terms of bourgeois democracy that the Labour Party remains vastly more popular than the Conservative Party despite the fact that the CP has a policy on Europe much closer to the thinking of the substantial majority. My guess is that people vote not just on short term interest, or to keep the worser bastards out, but on a global sense of the soundness of the government. Thus although they know the LP leans towards Europe they realise intuitively that that is thought to be sound by big business, and that actually adds to the numbers willing to support Labour. So long as the LP does not lead them to the brink too quickly. This is why modern politics, to be scientific, needs a government supported by an array of focus groups. Armed men by comparison are largely irrelevant for pursuing the interests of capital in domestic politics. But it is still about managing conflict.
Chris Burford London