Tory leader William Hague has launched a website to promote his party's Keep the Pound campaign, saying that the battle to save Britain's currency had begun.

Unveiling the website on the latest stop in his national tour, Mr Hague said it would help highlight what he says is the single European currency's threat to both the British economy and national sovereignty.

"Our Keep the Pound campaign is not just directed at Conservatives," said Mr Hague.

"The Labour and Liberal Democrat parties are not speaking for their supporters on this issue.

"I am speaking for all people, regardless of which party they normally support, who care about our country and want to keep control of our own currency.

"What you'll get from me on this campaign, be it via the internet, the newspapers, television or in person, is the plain, unrehearsed, unspun common sense that the British people deserve - the common sense that will save our currency and save our country."

The website, offering free Keep the Pound badges to people who register, outlines Mr Hague's "five reasons" to keep the pound and attacks Prime Minister Tony Blair, accusing him and the Cabinet of being "signed up to scrapping the pound".

It also includes poll information on what people feel about the Euro and pound-euro exchange rates.

In a separate development, the battle over statistics on Britain's place in Europe continued with a report commissioned for a pro-Europe group predicting that up to eight million jobs could be lost if a future government pulled out of the European Union.

'Catastrophic job losses'

The Express newspaper reported that the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) predicted catastrophic job losses with some £15bn removed from the British economy.

The figures were seized upon by the cross-party pro-Europe group Britain In Europe.

But, following the publication of the report's details, the NIESR has said its findings have been manipulated, prompting it to pull out of Britain in Europe's campaign.

A NIESR spokesman said the job losses represented a temporary fluctuation.

"I feel our report has been grossly misrepresented. If Britain withdrew from the EU the structure of employment would probably change a bit, but with a flexible labour market we would expect to return to full employment," he said.

Despite additional criticism from the Conservative Party, BIE remains adamant that continued co-operation within Europe is a crucial factor in safeguarding employment.

"They (the NIESR) are saying 3.2m jobs are clearly connected to our place in the European Union and if that place were under threat, then presumably there would be some impact on those jobs," said a spokesman.

Earlier in the week, the anti-euro group, Business for Stirling, predicted that dumping the pound would cost some £36bn and said almost three-quarters of businesses polled opposed entry into a single currency.