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Murdoch declares war on the euro

London - Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch has vowed to use his position as Britain's most influential newspaper-owner to fight any attempt by Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government to join the euro zone.

In an interview published on Tuesday in the Financial Times, Murdoch said he would like to see his highly popular British newspapers, The Sun, The News of the World, The Times and The Sunday Times, telling readers to "vote no" in any referendum on whether Britain should join Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

His reported remarks sent the British pound bounding higher on the foreign exchange market to €1.5544 from €1.5468 late on Monday, and to US$1.4653 from $1.4602.

Murdoch said he would not be happy if his editors took a different line to his opposition to the single currency.

"My feeling about the euro is that there is a lot of nonsense spoken about it ... It is a political decision (whether to enter).

"The central issue is one of sovereignty. If you give up control of your currency, you are going to give up control of your tax system just as night follows day."

"The idea of Europe having one foreign policy, tying up its military in one organisation, it seems to me 100 years premature. I cannot see anything but benefit by waiting."

His stance would deal a severe blow to any campaign by the Labour government to take Britain into the 12-nation euro area.

Blair has made no secret of his desire to see Britain join its European partners in adopting the single European currency, but says certain economic conditions must be met before a referendum is held.

Polls show that most Britons do not want to give up the pound in favour of the euro, but supporters of the single currency claim that reticence could be overcome by a strong pro-euro campaign by the government.

Economists say the pound would need to depreciate against the euro before Britain could join as exporters would not be able to cope with current rates in the long run.

"Euro-sterling is under pressure this morning helped by the comments from Rupert Murdoch," said Adrian Schmidt at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Barclays Capital currency economist Jane Foley said that speculation the British government would call a referendum next year was beginning "to look a bit optimistic."

She added: "This strengthens the possibility we may even have to wait until the next parliament for a referendum." -Sapa-AFP

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