Should the UK join the euro?

Should we join the euro?

Whether Britain should join the euro or not is one of the biggest political decisions any of us will be called upon to make.

Yet it is a question that the British Government has so far refused to let us vote on.

At the beginning of this year, Europe underwent the biggest logistical operation in peacetime history: the adoption of a single European currency.

12 EU countries - around 300 million people - switched to the euro on 1 January.

This event has massive economic and political implications for people living in Britain, not least because British people make 40 million trips to the so-called "eurozone" every year.

Panorama brings the debate into the open. Chaired by David Dimbleby, two teams try to convince studio audiences around the country of the arguments for and against Britain joining the euro.

The team for joining the euro:

Lord Hattersley, former deputy leader, Labour Party
Sir Richard Branson, chairman, Virgin Group
Simon Buckby, director, Britain in Europe

The team against joining the euro:

Michael Howard MP, shadow chancellor
Tim Martin, JD Weatherspoon
Janet Bush, co-director, No Campaign

Hundreds of voters in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester were invited by the pollster ICM from a cross section of public opinion. (For more information on how the poll was conducted see the link on the right hand side of this page to the ICM website.)

Production Team:
Producer: Alexandra Henderson
Editor: Mike Robinson