Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook played down a poll which suggests seven out of 10 voters are against scrapping the pound and joining the euro.
He said in an interview that "Britons were 'hard headed' and if they recognised the UK would do better in terms of jobs, investment and trade they would see the case for joining".
Robin Cook is considered one of the finest minds in the Labour Party. His skill at oratory and debate is exemplified by his election as Parliamentarian of the Year in 1991.
As foreign secretary, he has had to deal with the crises in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and East Timor.
Committed to an ethical foreign policy on election in 1997, he has subsequently been criticised for approving licenses for UK arms sales to the regimes in Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Pakistan.
Speaking at a closed session of Labour's spring conference in Glasgow last week, Mr Cook said Labour has the Tories "running scared" on the European debate and that Eurosceptics are the Conservatives' "Militant Tendency".
He said the electorate has a choice between two futures for Britain: "A Labour Britain leading Europe or a Tory Britain leaving Europe."
