London  - Despite gloomy economic forecasts and a weakening pound, an overwhelming majority of people in Britain remain opposed to joining the European single currency, an opinion poll published Thursday showed.

The ICM poll, conducted for BBC radio, showed that 10 years after the launch of the European single currency, 71 per cent of Britons reject the introduction of the euro in their country, while 23 per cent are in favour.

This week the euro reached near-parity with the pound, climbing to a record high of 98 pence against the British currency. When the euro began trading on January 4 1999, it stood at 71 pence against the pound.

Publication of the poll came amid a warning by Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the "enormous" challenges ahead in 2009 and a further batch of gloomy economic forecasts.

"I want 2009 to be the year when the dawn of a new progressive era breaks across the world," Brown said in a New Year message.

That would mean governments investing throughout the economic downturn and offering "real help" to families and businesses.

While the issues were complex, due to their global origin and dimension, he was confident that the British people could meet the challenges in the economy, the environment and security.

The task for 2009 was to "build tomorrow," with jobs for the digital age and the green agenda, new transport and communications infrastructure and enhanced skills, said Brown.

Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce predicted Thursday that the economy would shrink by as much as 2.9 per cent in 2009, and that unemployment would rise to over 3 million, or 10 per cent of the workforce.

The organization also predicted a "risk of deflation" in the second half of 2009 as government borrowing increase to 130 billion pounds (187 billion dollars).

But Brown, in his New Year message, launched a strong defence of his government's policy of last autumn's massive recapitalization scheme for the banking sector and fiscal measures to stimulate the ailing economy.

"The scale and speed of the global financial crisis was, at times, almost overwhelming. I know that people felt bewildered, confused and sometimes frightened," he said.

"That is why the response had to be swift and decisive."

However, the opposition Conservatives accused Brown of "arrogance" and of "living in a fantasy land of his own imagination."

George Osborne, the Conservatives' spokesman on the economy, said that six months of policy announcements by Brown had achieved "nothing except to add to our national debt."

"He (Brown) has the arrogance to use Churchillian language when he will go down in history as the politician who spent 10 years in high office failing to prepare Britain for the gathering storm," said Osborne.

Some analysts believe the euro could even become worth more than the pound, given that further interest rate cuts are in the pipeline in Britain.

However, the poll found that 69 per cent of Britons felt the recent changes in the value of their currency made no difference to whether Britain should join the euro.

Only 15 per cent said that the pound's fall made them more keen on ditching sterling for the euro.

The weakness of the pound has been linked as much to gloomy economic forecasts as to the state of Britain's public finances, as borrowing reached unprecedented levels.

But Brown, a strong opponent of the euro, has said he does not wish to see a revival of the euro debate in Britain.

In an editoral Thursday Britain's Times newspaper said that the euro-sceptics in Britain had been "proved wrong" as the euro currency was gaining in strength. It was now clear that Britain would have been "better off" with the euro, the article said.

In London, the 10th birthday of the euro was marked Thursday by members of the anti-European UK Independence Party (Ukip) burning bundles of euro notes outside the Bank of England headquarters. (dpa)