I REFER to the report 'Richard's hunch backs Euro' (Evening Press, March 13) and wish to make clear what Britain's relationship to the single currency should be.

Mr Bennett, manager of the Richard III Museum, says: "British opposition to the Euro seems rooted in a Little England attitude, or at worst, outright xenophobia."

Those, like me, opposed to Britain's entry into the single currency are not opponents of the Euro. We wish it well and hope it is a great success. Our opposition is to the proposal to surrender our fiscal sovereignty to an un-elected banker with the impossible task of setting an interest rate appropriate for economies as disparate as Germany, Ireland and Britain.

As for the charge of being a Little Englander, I am proud that Britain, with the fourth largest economy in the world, trades with countries in every continent in 40 different currencies. Mr Bennett should note that a greater percentage of our overseas trade goes to the USA than to Germany and France combined. Would anyone suggest that to maintain and enhance our trade with America we should adopt a single currency with the dollar?

W C Harrison,

Queen's Court,

Fetter Lane, York.

Updated: 12:24 Thursday, March 28, 2002