Mandelson: Joining euro is an important objective

Lord Mandelson has dramatically reopened the divisive issue of joining the single currency.

He described it was an "important objective" for Britain during a trip to Berlin and hailed the euro as "a great success".

It is the first time such a senior minister has openly enthused about the euro for over five years.

Gordon Brown effectively closed down the debate on scrapping the pound with his five tests in 1997.

The First Secretary of State said: "Does it remain an important objective for Britain to find itself in the same currency as that single market in which it interacts? Obviously yes."

He insisted that such a decision was for "the future" and had to be made on the "right terms in the right circumstances".

However, he added: "It is perfectly clear that the euro has been a great success in anchoring its eurozone members during the financial crisis.

"I hope people will recognise that this represents a major vindication for the single currency."

However, the Tories stressed that countries that had joined the euro had lost control over monetary policy.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: "It is deeply disturbing that the man who now makes most of the Government's policies has declared that Britain should join the euro."