Whitehall, where the view is clear and the doubts are secret

The corridors of power contain sceptics about everything from Europe to austerity. But nothing flickers on the imperturbable Treasury facade

One of the key negotiators of the terms of UK entry to the European Economic Community in the early 1970s went down in history as a loyal servant of prime minister Edward Heath, but himself had doubts about the entire venture.

The man in question, who is, as they say, no longer with us, would no doubt have been of great interest to the present band of Eurosceptics whom David Cameron is trying, if not exactly to win over, at least to pacify. His view was simple, and could be broadly paraphrased as: "Why did we fight the second world war if we end up doing this?"

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