Four leading local businessmen have joined forces to say no to the euro.

In an open letter to the Keighley News Colin Bennett, managing director of Keighley-based Viking Industrial Products, Gordon Black, chairman of Peter Black Holdings, Philip Alton, managing director of Marsel Display Co, in Silsden, and Michael Whitaker, executive director of Ilkley firm Mitre Estates, have slammed the single currency and called on the Government to be honest about its intentions.

Yesterday Keighley MP Ann Cryer backed their claims, saying: "I sympathise with their views as I also am not keen on joining the euro.

"We need a referendum as soon as possible to clear the air, and I will be arguing against joining."

Gordon Black said the issue of the euro was one of the most important of his generation. "We want to trade with Europe but we don't want to be part of a federal Europe," he added.

"Joining the euro would be an irreversible step towards a federal Europe, and history has shown that would be a disaster.

"Whenever countries have joined together like that in the past they have broken up acrimoniously.

"We can't just take the superficial approach. It's easy to say it will make things easier for holidaymakers, but what happens when the economies of Greece or Spain hit trouble and they can't change taxation, for example, without referring to Brussels?"

Viking Industrial Products -- a distributor of tapes, adhesives, workwear and safety clothing -- does a lot of business in Europe and operates an invoicing system in euros. Managing director Colin Bennett says that makes it easier for the company, but he still believes it is not for the UK. Mr Bennett said: "I believe that you can't have one size for all, and whenever we have tried to stick with another currency -- like the Deutschmark -- it has always failed."

In an open letter to readers, the four say that the recent statement by Treasury official Gus O'Donnell, that there can never be a "clear and unambiguous" economic case for Britain to join the euro and that it would ultimately be a "political decision" left Government policy on the euro in shreds.

"Supporters of the euro are increasingly admitting that the economic costs of joining the euro are less important to them than the ability to strut on the political stage.

"They want Britain to give up the pound even if it causes economic problems for the rest of us. But why should we put British jobs and prosperity at risk just so that politicians can advance their own careers? Britain has done better by keeping the pound and keeping control of its economy. Our unemployment level is half that of the Euro-zone and our take home pay is now higher than any EU country except Luxembourg."

It added: "We now have the best economic outlook in the coming year of any major economy in the world. If we were to replace the pound with the euro we would lose control, which would be the quickest way to take us back to the boom and bust of the past."

Euro rage page 8