I came across this excellent article by Ivan Massow this morning. In it Mr Massow describes his conversion on the single currency and calls for the party of which he is a member, the Conservatives, to reconsider their hostility to the euro.

In it he rightly points out that the euro has become the predominant and most stable currency in the world, while the French have not become less French, nor the Spanish less Spanish for having adopted it.

He also explains the economic sense of consumers not having to change money when they travel, commenting that if only half of us visited mainland Europe once a year at an average exchange commission of three percent, this amounts to conversion costs of £5.4billion.

Moreover, the beneficial impact of the single currency on British business must be emphasised. Massow, who is a millionaire businessman himself, asserts "I cannot think of a business that would not benefit if exchange commissions and fluctuating currencies disappeared", pointing out that the euro has rapidly surpassed the dollar in becoming the world's number one choice.

Let us be quite clear that in the case of the UK and the single currency, staying out means missing out.