... Or The New Coin Of The Realm?

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown can debate the five tests for five more years if they please, and the British public can continue to cling to the pound. As far as Phil Elliott is concerned, the battle is over: the euro has already won.

Elliott, 39, is managing director of Booth Dispensers, a Lancashire-based manufacturer of the chillers and carbonators inside soft-drink vending machines. It's a medium-sized firm with 120 employees that, like many British manufacturers, has ramped up its exports. About one-third of its customers now are in Western Europe, mainly Italy, Germany and the Netherlands,...