We need reason

His avowed aim to save the pound strikes a chord with those who wish to defend our nation's unique identity.

Britain needs to decide, and decide quickly, whether or not we will join the single currency.

But we can only determine the true merits of the euro if there is a reasoned national debate on the issue.

In his speech to the Conservative Spring Conference in Harrogate yesterday Mr Hague warned of Britain becoming a "foreign land" under Labour, where British people no longer felt at home.

Such emotive language does not help the cause of reasoned debate.

We need a genuine evaluation of the merits and drawbacks to further integration.

All we witnessed in Mr Hague yesterday was blatant scaremongering, appealing to the xenophobic tendencies within our society.

Michael Heseltine is right to be concerned about the tactics adopted by his party leader.

Unless Mr Hague focuses attention on European issues, instead of rhetoric and propaganda, we risk seeing an election campaign and a future referendum on the euro being hijacked by those seeking to criticise foreigners.

THE planting of the bomb outside the BBC television centre was a blatant attempt to destabilise the peace process in Northern Ireland.

It is a sobering thought that for all the progress made in the province in recent years we still have in our midst a group of people willing to murder and maim to pursue their opposition to a brokered peace.

It is to be hoped that the explosion will persuade the parties involved in the peace process to redouble their efforts.

To do anything else would mark a victory to those who masterminded the latest atrocity.

The alternative to securing a lasting peace in Northern Ireland is a return to a wave of violence and indiscriminate loss of life.

Just like the horror of the Omagh bombing hastened the journey towards peace, we hope events in London in the early hours of yesterday morning serve as a grim reminder of the dangers of division.