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But on the other side of the Commons only 13 per cent

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But on the other side of the Commons, only 13 per cent of Tory MPs support the euro, while 71 per cent are opposed with 16 per cent undecided.Despite attempts by Labour whips to prevent MPs taking part in surveys, the team managed to interview 133 Labour MPs, one-third of the total, in June and July this year. They interviewed a higher proportion of Conservatives and three-quarters of Liberal Democrats.The survey shows how retirement and the huge influx of new MPs have dramatically shifted the balance of opinion in the Parliamentary Labour Party since the election. The findings of the first academic study of MPs' attitudes since the election, obtained exclusively by The Independent on Sunday, show that Labour MPs have become sharply more pro-European, while the Conservatives' euro-scepticism has become slightly more marked. While 65 per cent of Labour MPs agree that joining the euro is "crucial", only 16 per cent disagree, with 19 per cent expressing no opinion. TWO-THIRDS of Labour MPs think membership of the euro is "crucial for Britain's future prosperity", according to a new survey which will increase the pressure on the Prime Minister to make an early decision to join the single European currency. The decision will be considered by a committee of the Environment Agency on Tuesday and ministers are expecting to receive the document by the end of the month.. What did exist was a series of cashflow spread sheets, which were, in effect, a re-run of figures provided by BNFL to Touche Ross."There is no doubt in my mind that they would never have stood up to independent scrutiny, and there was no justification for refusing to publish them on the grounds of commercial confidentiality."Mr John Roques, chief executive of Touche Ross, was then, and is now, a non-executive member of BNFL's board.In a statement, BNFL said: "Touche Ross undertook a thorough examination of the economics of Thorp along with Treasury and DTI officials," and had concluded "that the economic benefit for the start-up of Thorp was robust." But the firm was unable to confirm what form the report had taken.The revelation is bound to influence ministers in their decision to give the go-ahead to the new pounds 300m plutonium fuel plant at Sellafield. By law, the Government was not allowed to approve the start-up unless the damage caused by the plant's radioactive discharges could be justified by its benefits.Environmentalists, independent scientists and the Labour party in opposition all called for the report to be published, but British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), which runs Sellafield, refused to do so on the grounds that it was commercially confidential.Recently the Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, asked to see the report but was told, to his amazement, by top civil servants that it did not exist.Yesterday, Tom Burke, special advisor for Mr Gummer when the decision was taken, said: "The so-called Touche Ross report was central to the case for starting up Thorp.

It was absolutely vital to the argument presented by the Department of Trade and Industry that the commercial advantages of the plant outweighed its disadvantages."Everyone was told that there was a Touche Ross report, but it never existed as such. The group is strongly opposed to a proposal to remove the limit on compensation for unfair dismissal.Sources close to Mr Prescott say he believes the White Paper is a "damn good document" and will commend it to delegates, but by implication to his Cabinet colleague too.The Trade Secretary is regarded as one of the union movement's principal enemies in the Cabinet.. If we give the nurses too much that sends the wrong signals out.". PETER MANDELSON, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, will come under enormous pressure this week to introduce in full the most radical extension of workers' rights in a generation, writes Barrie Clement. John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, will make it clear at the annual TUC Congress in Blackpool tomorrow that Mr Mandelson should resist mounting pressure from employers and refuse to water down the Government's Fairness at Work White Paper. The Confederation of British Industry is demanding that the Cabinet amend a series of key clauses favouring unions.

They seem to be prepared to see my members, whose work is essential to the service, left on poverty pay."The Chancellor is calling for tight constraint in wage increases to keep inflation under control "There will be no let up on pay," a Treasury source said "We are not going to have a free for all. It would produce nuclear fuel from plutonium - the raw material for bombs - which would then be transported through Britain and Europe, creating potential security risks.A new legal opinion by top barristers - including Presiley Baxendale, who played a key role in the Scott Inquiry - says the new plant should not be allowed to start up unless it can be proved that operating Thorp, to which it is linked, is justified.The pounds 2.8bn Thorp plant was given the go-ahead by Mr Gummer in December 1993, after the report by Touche Ross had apparently concluded that it would earn Britain more than pounds 900m. An adviser to John Gummer, the former environment secretary, who announced the plant's go- ahead, confirmed yesterday there had never been any report as such. The revelation comes as ministers are to be asked to approve the start- up of another plant at the Cumbrian nuclear complex. In a bizarre development, civil servants have told the Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, that a supposedly independent report by the accountancy firm Touche Ross - used to provide the economic justification for the Thorp reprocessing plant - had never been drawn up.

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