will UK join the Euro in the new year ?

Tourist rate, yes, at high street changers... bank rate in a while maybe.

you are  correct, personally I am so depressed about the rate.. I should move my money from UK long time ago . Hopefully, it will come back  soon

1.00 GBP = 1.11875 EUR  rates at 2008.12.14 18:39:12 UTC 

you are  correct, personally I am so depressed about the rate.. I should move my money from UK long time ago . Hopefully, it will come back  soon

1.00 GBP = 1.11875 EUR  rates at 2008.12.14 18:39:12 UTC 

The Lib Dem economic spokesman:

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman and deputy leader, said that while the immediate cause of sterling's fall had been the rapid drop in interest rates from 4.5 per cent to 2 per cent since last month - and the expectation that they would drop further - the reason the cuts had been necessary was the result of the government's failure. 'Behind it all is a sense that we are a weak economy with a much bigger housing bubble than other countries, and Brown failed to do anything to address that.'

Cable argued that sterling's vulnerability strengthened the case in the medium to long term for the UK to be 'locked into a bigger currency block' - meaning entry into the euro. The case for euro entry was also put by leading economist and commentator Will Hutton. 'The pound buying less than a euro is an important psychological moment. Britain first doubted the euro would be launched, then whether it would survive, then whether it would ever become a serious currency,' said Hutton.

'Even today people are rushing to pronounce its death warrant. Now it is plainly the world's second currency after the dollar. As the pound becomes more volatile and less valuable, the euro will be seen increasingly as a safe haven - a zone in which both British industry and the City of London would flourish. The question is not if Britain will join, but when - and how many working lives and businesses will be wrecked by ideological opposition before it does.'

I am quite a Eurosceptic, but there is no way that those who share my views will ever win the argument when the loudest voices are those like you. 

I don't think it is fair to consider JM a Eurosceptic. It is one thing to be sceptical (which is healthy) and another to be fanatic.

Scepticism towards the EU is a perfectly fair position. I am sceptical towards all governments. However, being sceptical is not an excuse to be lazy. I know a great deal about how the EU functions and take an active part in the democratic process (that's right sometimes you have to go and take hold of democracy and not wait for it to come to you). I, to a large extent, have much greater faith in the European Union than the governments of many Member States. This being said, I cannot approve today of what someone might do tomorrow and I would no longer feel supportive of the EU if it no longer supported a broadly liberal outlook where people are free to live their lives how they want without Member States telling them what they can and cannot do. Although, since the EU has a written constitution (in the broad sense of the word) this is not set to change overnight.

Regarding the adoption of the Euro, one of Vince Cable's points is already in place. More Euros are traded every day in the City of London than British Pounds.

Is it not the case that Britain joining the euro currency would entail the movement of the Bank of England's gold reserves to the European Central Bank?

It is not the case. However, the European Central Bank (ECB) is in charge of the conduct of foreign exchange operations and the holding and management of the official foreign reserves of eurozone countries. All gold and foreign exchange reserves of the national banks remain their assets but, under the Maastricht treaty, are at the disposal of the ECB. Official eurozone reserves total over €40 billion, of which over 30 per cent are gold reserves of the Bundesbank and around 20 per cent of the Banque de France.

under the Maastricht treaty, are at the disposal of the ECB.

So it's as though I take $100 from you, then "give" it back to you, but reserve the right to come along later and take it away again if I wish.   Talk about being an Indian Giver; this adds the twist of it being your gold in the first place!

Remind me again that the EU is not about overriding national sovereignty?   If it controls the entire wealth of the nation, that sounds like a pretty good handle on being able to control that nation.   What if some disaster affects the euro-zone at some point in the future and the ECB decides to take British gold reserves, even though that would be detrimental to the United Kingdom?  Assuming we had a government with enough backbone to refuse (which seems dubious at the moment), what are they going to do?   Why would any sensible country even agree to allowing a foreign entity to control its basic financial asset in the first place?