RE. comments by the EU Commission president that “people who matter in Britain are currently thinking about” membership of the euro have been condemned by UKIP.

The people who matter in Britain are the people, not the professional political class that Jose Manuel Barroso is himself a member of.

That ruling elite would love to bounce us into the euro and will grasp at any straw to do so, for it's a step on the way to their dream and our nightmare, a federal superstate.

We are told that some British politicians have said, “If we had the euro, we would have been better off.” Whoever these people are we need to hunt them down and explain some simple economics to them.

Membership of the euro would have meant lower interest rates in the boom, making the bubble even larger. And it would mean higher interest rates now in the bust, making the recession even deeper.

The pound has fallen against both the dollar and the euro, thus providing us with that fiscal boost that everyone says is so necessary, a boost which we couldn't have had if we were in the euro.

If Sr Barroso would actually like to consult the ‘people who matter in Britain’ then he can call for a referen-dum on both the euro and the Lisbon Treaty so that the people of Britain can tell him exactly how they feel.

John Whittaker, Lancashire MEP, UKIP