He predicts the Government will get a very clear yes vote but warns that the consequences of losing would be very serious.”The referendum has to be fought in a cool way, a relaxed way, a witty way,” he says “The Government will have to spend serious money. “We sat in this room and Jack’s room playing some cards with all the other colleagues discussing this non-stop since last autumn,” he said.At this point there is the sound of polished shoes on marble flagstones and a knock at the door of the minister’s grand office It is the British ambassador to Turkey. He maintains he was involved in discussions with the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, about the referendum policy six months before the Prime Minister’s decision to hold one. Was he completely out of the loop over the Prime Minister’s sudden change of heart? Mr MacShane avoids the question but hints that he was not. On 29 March he declared in the House of Commons that those calling for an EU poll were “the gravediggers of parliamentary democracy”. “There is a default setting in Whitehall which is to blame Brussels and forget about crazy Europe,” he said.However, Mr Blair’s decision to call a referendum on the EU constitution means that forgetting about “crazy Europe” is no longer an option. “Every Government minister will have to start making the case for Europe,” says Mr MacShane.

“UKIP are the militant expression of Tory hostility to Europe.”It is not only the Tories and right-wing press that are to blame for the pervasive scepticism about Brussels, he says: the Government machine must also bear some responsibility. Mr MacShane believes that in next month’s European elections the UK Independence Party, which wants the UK to withdraw from the EU, will gain more seats “I think UKIP will do well in the election,” he says. “If you sow the seeds of anti-European poison why should you be surprised when something very nasty sprouts out of it?” He singles out Michael Howard, the Tory leader, for criticism. He says Mr Howard has spent the past 12 years making “anti-Europeanism” the main political ideology in British politics.But the Tories’ decision to drip-feed anti-Brussels feeling has created a far more extreme political force which advocates immediate withdrawal from the EU. The minister’s ardent commitment to the European project takes him to several EU cities a week. He says opinion is so hostile, it often feels like “advocating Christianity in a Rome full of Neros and Caligulas”.”People have been told continually by too many politicians in the past decade that Europe is a bad thing,” he says. But he despairs of Eurosceptic attitudes in Britain and the anti-European press barons who he says print constant lies about Brussels policies.

Yet Mr MacShane is adamant that “Zap”, like all Spanish people, loves the British Prime Minister. “Everywhere I go in Europe there is admiration for Blair,” he says “They adore him in Spain. Zap quoted him endlessly all through the election campaign.”But can relations between Spain and Britain really be that rosy? Didn’t Mr Zapatero accuse Tony Blair and George Bush of dishonesty over Iraq? And didn’t one of Mr Zapatero’s lieutenants – Jose Bono – call Mr Blair “a complete dickhead” on live television, only to be promoted to the post of Defence Minister? “Oh yeah. He called him un gilipollas integral which means literally a complete finger man, a complete wanker,” the minister says.Despite his view that “languages are something head waiters do”, Mr MacShane’s linguistic ability is impressive. He speaks French, Spanish and German fluently and has a working knowledge of a smattering of other languages.His fluency and in-depth knowledge of EU politics has gone down well with European ministers who see Mr MacShane, a former journalist and trade union leader, as an intellectual in the Continental mould or le grand fromage Anglais – the Big Cheese Englishman.Mr MacShane’s vast Whitehall office is awash with European memorabilia, including a French children’s train made of coaches which read E-n-t-e-n-t-e C-o-r-d-i-a-l-e, EU beer mats and a full sized European Union flag. Denis MacShane, the multilingual Minister for Europe, has just received a text message from Spain.

It is from Rafael Estella, a prominent Spanish MP, and congratulates Mr MacShane on a muy buena entrevista – a very good interview – in a Spanish newspaper.
The Minister is very keen on building bridges between Spain and Britain, and more specifically between Tony Blair and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the new Spanish Prime Minister, or “Zap”, as Mr MacShane calls him.Within hours of taking office last month, Mr Zapatero announced plans to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq, a serious blow to Mr Blair. It followed a major investigation, which sources said involved more than 100 BA staff.. It is the court of directors’ intention to immediately put in place arrangements for the appointment of his successor and a further announcement on this is expected to be made next week.”The list of employees to have been sacked for abuses of in-house internet rules includes three Rolls-Royce workers dismissed last month for downloading pornography.In December last year, BT admitted that it had sacked 200 workers over the previous 18 months for viewing internet porn. Paul Finch, a Palace of Westminster engineer, was forced to resign in March 2003 for downloading internet porn after staff found he had been accessing websites for “swingers”.In March 2001, two British Airways staff were sacked for downloading internet porn, including images of children.