Britain must break through the "paralysis of argument" over the European Single Currency and be ready to work within the euro, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Gordon Brown,said yesterday.

Criticising economic policy under the Tory government, Mr Brown said he wanted Britain "to break with the past and give our country a new direction in Europe".

During an interview on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme, Mr Brown accused the Tories of dithering over the single currency in government and in opposition. "I want direction for this country. That's why I have said I am, in principle, in favour of a single currency," he said.

Earlier, in an article for the Sun- day Telegraph, Mr Brown welcomed the "many dissident" Tories who would now support the British government's statement of principle to join the single currency.

Taking a swipe at recent resignations from the shadow cabinet over its anti-European stance, Mr Brown said the time had come to establish a "mainstream proEuropean national consensus" to recognise that Britain's economic and business future lies inside Europe.

Pointing to the fact that some of Britain's biggest retailers have already begun preparations for a single currency, Mr Brown praised Marks and Spencer's plans to accept the euro in its cashtills in Britain.

The National Westminster Bank, one of Britain's largest banks, is investing in training its staff to work with the euro and Mr Brown warned that if the rest of the British economy did not follow suit business opportunities would be "snapped up by continental rivals".

Supporting Mr Brown's call, the president of the British Chambers of Commerce, Mr David Richardson, said he felt it was "inevitable" that Britain would join the single currency but he warned taxes could rise as a result. Although Britain could be ready to join in 2001 or 2002, Mr Richardson said higher taxes might facilitate convergence. "It is one of the weapons, one of the adjustments which can be made to our economy which will enable interest rates and exchange rates to gradually reach convergence with the rest of Europe," Mr Richardson said.

The Chairman of Natwest, Lord Alexander of Weedon, also welcomed the Chancellor's view that the single currency could be good for the British economy. Attacking his own party, Lord Alexander said the Tories had adopted a "very strange" attitude over the euro in attempting to rule Britain out of the single currency for the next 10 years.