Tory leader pours scorn on invisible euro roadshow

Tony Blair refused to rule out a referendum on the single currency before the next general election, saying yesterday the Government should keep the option open.

But the Prime Minister was ridiculed by Iain Duncan Smith over the "roadshow" promoting the single currency's benefits, planned after Gordon Brown's "not yet" verdict in June.

The Tory leader said at Prime Minister's Questions that Mr Blair's dreamsto scrap the pound had been utterly wrecked by the "no" vote in Sweden on Sunday and asked: "On June 10 you launched a roadshow selling the single currency to the British people. Can you tell us where this roadshow has got to?"

Later, Mr Blair did not rule out a referendum in this parliament. "We should keep our options open ... the right test is whether it is in this country's economic interests."