Some seventy-one percent of Brits opposed the introduction of the euro currency in this country, a new poll has found.

The ICM survey for Radio 4’s The World at One programme pointed to a clear “No” vote if a referendum was held at any time in the near future.

Sixty-nine percent did not believe the fall in sterling made a difference to whether Britain should join the euro. Fourteen percent said it made them less inclined to give up the pound and only 15 percent that it made them keener to do so.

ICM managing director Nick Sparrow believes public opinion has remained “remarkably consistent,” despite the recent economic turmoil. “If you go back almost to the start of the euro, never more than a quarter of people really support the idea of joining,” he said.

Euro membership returned to the headlines last month when European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that Britain was “closer than ever” to joining and that the “people who matter” in British politics were contemplating the move.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is credited with a new push in favour of the euro, saying that the Government’s long-term policy objective should be to take Britain into it.

Turning the pound over to the euro would take away the ability of the British government to determine interest rates, currency circulation and our budget deficits or surpluses.

It would also expose the British economy to undesirable fluctuations seen in other parts of Europe such as Italy, Spain and Greece.