Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Former Bank of England policy maker Willem Buiter is among a group of 31 academics and business people making a new push for Britain to adopt the euro as its currency, arguing that the credit crunch increases their case.

The group, including BP Plc Chairman Peter Sutherland and Work Foundation Vice Chairman Will Hutton, says that keeping outside the 16-nation group using the common currency is putting the stability of the U.K. economy at risk.

Britain’s Labour government under Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his predecessor Tony Blair opted to remain outside of the first wave of euro adopters in 1999 and then decided against joining for the foreseeable future in 2003. The pound has lost 58 percent of its value since peaking against the euro in 2000.

“The British always join European projects in the end, reluctantly,” Buiter said in an interview. “The problems of being a country with a large international banking sector and a currency that’s not a reserve currency have been revealed for all to see.”

The pound fell to its lowest-ever level against the euro last month, igniting suggestions Britain might adopt the currency if its own fell below parity. Against the dollar, the pound has lost a quarter of its value in the past year.

There’s little political support for the idea of abandoning the pound. Brown, who argued as finance minister that the U.K. shouldn’t join the euro, brushed the suggestion aside last month. The Conservative opposition is also against joining.

Buiter acknowledged that the state of the political parties means joining was only likely in the short term “if there’s a catastrophe.” Instead, he said, “it’s more likely to be the Labour administration after the next Conservative administration” that takes Britain in.

The pamphlet, “Ten Years of The Euro -- New Perspectives For Britain,” will be published in London at 11.30 a.m. today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 15, 2009 01:00 EST