A vociferous Peter Oborne ensured that last night's Newsnight was a particularly memorable edition. EU Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj-Tardio walked out of the discussion after Oborne repeatedly referred to him as "that idiot in Brussels". Jeremy Paxman, who has been known to sling the odd insult himself, chided the Telegraph columnist for his gratuitous rudeness.

Oborne's view of the euro as an unmitigated disaster is now rarely challenged in the British press (former FT editor and europhile Richard Lambert was trampled by Oborne) . But in last week's New Statesman, Oliver Kamm offered a spirited defence of the single currency, insisting that "the crisis of the euro is severe but there is no reason that it should be terminal."

He added: "Monetary union is not the cause of the crisis. Done properly, it may help insulate member states from disruptive volatility in the international capital markets." You can read his sage analysis in full here.