LONDON, 2 September 2003 — Prime Minister Tony Blair’s self-professed destiny of one day taking Britain into the euro is rapidly looking more like a pipe dream as his own popularity crumbles and the euro zone’s economic problems escalate, experts said yesterday.

It was only three months ago that Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said his five economic tests for whether Britain should join the euro had not been passed but held out the possibility of revisiting the tests next year.

At the time, Blair promised a “change of gear” in his government’s approach to the euro. Brown said that would turn around public hostility to the project, and win over the “ambivalent, apathetic or antagonistic.”

But if there has been a change in gear, it seems to have been into reverse. The government has been too busy, struggling with the fallout of weapons expert David Kelly’s suicide, to pay heed to the euro.

“It (the euro campaign) is going nowhere and no, it won’t be possible to win people over now,” said Bob Worcester, chairman of pollsters MORI.

“There won’t be a referendum in the lifetime of this Parliament and I am increasingly skeptical about having one in the next. There’s no chance in the short term.”

A survey by Barclays Capital last week showed that British anti-Europe sentiment hardened in August with a net 16 percent of respondents saying they would vote against joining the single currency even if the government recommended joining.

Official policy since 1997 has been that the government is in favor of joining as long as its five economic conditions are passed. Only one of these tests was met in June.

Nor does it help the case for joining the euro that the bloc’s three largest economies — Germany, France and Italy — all shrank in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the debate over the interpretation of the Stability and Growth Pact rumbles on with both France and Germany calling for greater flexibility as they again break the rule on keeping deficits below three percent of total economic output.

Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said last week his country would postpone entry into the single currency even if it voted “yes” in a referendum which is only a fortnight away if the budget pact rules were not sorted out.

Persson, who is campaigning for Swedish euro entry, said a functioning stability pact had to be in place before his country could join the euro. He has also warned that a “no” vote in the referendum would postpone membership for another 10 years.

Analysts say a vote against the euro in Sweden would make the case for Britain joining harder as it will look less isolated by staying out.

“The loss of trust in the government, the implosion of the pro-euro campaign, and the poor performance of the euro zone are not going to make things any easier,” said James Frayne, campaign manager of the No Campaign, Britain’s main anti-euro group.

Even Frayne’s counterparts at pro-euro lobby group Britain in Europe seemed less than hopeful as they blamed the government for offering no clear direction on the euro.

“It’s very difficult for a campaign to get going without context. Without a strong lead, it’s very difficult for us,” said a spokesman.

Six members of the group’s staff have either left or are about to leave their posts, he added.

Still, he said, the issue had not gone away and Britain in Europe would continue to prepare for a referendum next year.