Brown ally criticises rush to join the euro

The rift over the single European currency at the highest levels of the Government will widen today as supporters of the Chancellor call for political reforms to be made before Britain joins the euro.

While the Prime Minister remains relatively well-disposed to the currency, Gordon Brown's more Eurosceptical followers will erect fresh barriers to British membership.

Bill Morris, leader of one of the Labour Party's biggest affiliates and a close ally of the Chancellor, will argue that European institutions should be "democratised" before the UK contemplates joining the euro.

In particular Mr Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, believes that the European Central Bank should become more accountable and the parliament in Brussels should have more power over the Council of Ministers.

The UK should not rush to join the euro like "lemmings jumping off a cliff", he will tell his union's biennial conference in Brighton.

In a speech which is expected to receive the full backing of the Chancellor, he will say that political reform should go hand in hand with the five economic tests already set out by the Government.

Mr Morris will call for more transparency in European institutions like the European Central Bank and the European Commission.

"The critical test is political reform with the economic tests. You cannot have one without the other," he will say.

Mr Morris will describe himself as a "euro-pragmatist" – in favour of the single currency if it is good for the country, but against if it is bad.

The conference is expected to pass a motion which will warn that meeting the convergence criteria for the new currency could be "difficult and disruptive" for the economy. Supported by the union's executive, it says the Government's five economic tests may not be met in the short or medium term.

UK membership of the single currency would have implications for job security and could have a negative impact on employment, the motion warns.

The union's deputy general secretary Margaret Prosser yesterday announced that the TGWU would be launching equal pay "audits" all over the country in an attempt to close the 18 per cent pay gap between men and women. Thousands of employers will be targeted in the campaign.

Ms Prosser said the union had decided to act in the absence of any legislation forcing firms to make sure they were not discriminating against women. The union will threaten recalcitrant employers with employment tribunals if they refuse to address the problem.

Research for the TGWU has shown that the pay gap is as high as 38 per cent in some manufacturing firms and around 20 per cent in service companies.

Women earn 79 per cent of men's pay in London, 81 per cent in Scotland, 86 per cent in Wales and 91 per cent in Eastern England.

The union recently uncovered a case in which women who worked as cleaners in the evenings were being paid 50p an hour less than men doing the same job on day shifts.

Julie Mellor, chairwoman of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said the TGWU's campaign to promote pay reviews as part of their negotiations with employers was a "very positive step".