WORD had it that former Chancellor Ken Clarke would meet a fairly hostile reception to his pro-European sympathies when he faced Craven Tories at the Gargrave branch of the Skipton and Ripon Conservative Association's annual supper.

But Mr Clarke is not one to be daunted by those who disagree with his views. Not for nothing was he described by Michael Whitaker, giving a vote of thanks, as the 'thinking man's lager lout'.

And, despite a few harrumphs, half-hearted protestations and the odd shake of the head, he despatched the short pitched bouncers aimed at him from the floor in such style that if only England's cricketers could emulate his form then the Ashes would be as good as on their way home from Australia.

Gargrave Village Hall was packed - some party stalwarts had even been unable to get hold of tickets - for the Conservative heavyweight. And Mr Clarke delivered a high velocity speech which savaged the Labour Government.

Opening the batting, he was on safe ground when he described Tony Blair's Government as a triumph of style over substance, but even the style was now wearing thin.

He accused his successor as Chancellor, Gordon Brown, of pinching his best line - 'no return to boom and bust' - and pointed out that we now had the bust but where had the boom gone?

But it was a speech which, as Mr Clarke himself later pointed out, barely mentioned the word Europe, never mind single currency.

However, if he dodged the big E-word, the audience was in no such mood. The first question from the floor was a carbon copy of the type put by obsequious backbenchers in the House of Commons.

You know the type, along the lines of: 'Would my friend agree that our party is wonderful and our opponents are incompetent?' to which the only real answer is: 'Yes.'

But then came the short pitched stuff. Hadn't Mr Clarke, along with Chris Patten and Michael Heseltine shown disloyalty to William Hague by accepting paid jobs from the Labour Government, demanded one questioner.

There were puzzled glances. This sounded like a political scandal of the highest order. Mr Clarke swung his bat and scored a stylish six. He revealed that the 'paid job' was in fact with the Anglo-Mexican Trade Association, of which he was the British co-ordinator because he 'knew the President of Mexico better than he knew the Prime Minister of Great Britain'.

He had been involved long before Tony Blair had heard of it and Labour spin doctors had duped the right wing press into portraying it as an example of Mr Clarke's approval of Mr Blair's government.

Having blunted the fast bowling attack aimed at the head, Mr Clarke then padded up to meet the Shane Warne-style spin bowling.

He started off by blocking: He didn't believe Britain should join a single European currency straight away. He thought the Conservatives had it right under John Major (about the only policy they did get right at the last election he quipped): Wait and see.

'If it (the single currency) succeeds, we are going to have to join it and if it doesn't work out then we have had a very lucky escape,' he declared and few could argue with that.

But Mr Clarke said that he believed the decision would have to be made in two to three years and the Labour Government would then find a problem.

'The 11 countries who are in from the start will have to vote to let us in and being late will cost us a few pfennigs. We will have to accept some concession to the French interest, they will make us sign up to some things we don't wish to sign up to,' he warned.

If there was one message from Mr Clarke it was that Europe should not be a divisive issue for the Conservatives.

Time and again he railed against the right wing press - the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Times - for stirring up anti-European feeling and portraying any difference of opinion as disloyalty.

By now the bowling attack was wilting and Mr Clarke was in total command of the wicket.

He told his audience not to be duped into believing that the party would be hopelessly split by Europe. He wasn't splitting the party and he urged right wingers not to do so.

'In 1975 we had a Referendum on Europe and the party did divide. It did not bust the party up. When there is a referendum on single currency it is no good us saying we all agree, but if we do it in a civilised way there is no reason why we cannot win an election just after, or just before, the referendum,' he declared.

It was a rallying call for unity within the party.

No-one could doubt his loyalty, his scorn for the Labour Government and his determination to ensure that all Conservatives kept an open mind on a single European currency.

He sat down to warm applause. It wasn't a standing ovation, perhaps more akin to the grudging but respectful acknowledgement afforded at Sydney Cricket Ground to an England batsman who has just scored a century.

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