Accountant sums up the currency debate A BOLTON accountant is annoyed because the current currency debate about the Euro is "going nowhere."

Mr Keith Acton, senior partner with Bentley & Co, says the case is not being put properly by the government or the opposition.

He said today: "Arguments for and against proliferate. But what are the real issues? How can the business community and the public decide when a senior economist at a leading German bank says Britain would not benefit by joining the Single Currency.

"And our Ambassador in Japan sticks to the view that Japanese engineering plants would leave Britain unless we joined the European Monetary Union?"

He went on: "Many UK manufacturers face huge problems caused by the strength of the pound relative to the weak euro, especially manufacturers who account for the just over 50 per cent of our exports sold to mainland Europe.

"But manufacturers who rely on imported raw materials have one big gain in their favour -- the strength of the Pound."

Mr Acton , who joined the firm in 1974, took over from Chris Hargraves as Senior Partner earlier this year.

"Many people share the views of certain Ministers that our joining the single currency eventually is inevitable.

"Yet the latest research shows British support, according to a new survey by the European Union, is at an all-time low of 22 per cent," Mr Acton said.

He called for business people and politicians to abandon their various vested interests and work together to examine the right way forward for Britain.