"It's quite possible for someone to oppose greater fiscal union with other countries without being xenophobic!"

That's true, Melodeonboy - but I still suspect that many of the Eurosceptics on the Tory right are xenophobic at heart. I also think that if we had a referendum on the EU in the UK too many people would fail to grasp the real (economic) issues and vote on the basis of xenophobia or internationalism (which would, as you say, be missing the point). I have to admit that I don't really understand the economic issues.

Articles in today's 'Independent' newspaper suggest that,(a) the changes proposed by Merkel, Sarkozy et. al. are anti-democratic and (b) Cameron's support for the City of London is misguided because the City is notoriously short-termist and couldn't give a damn about the rest of the UK. It all seems to come down to European politicians (including ours) being reluctant to regulate the markets or financial institutions ... possibly?