text: British " Euro-sceptic " says Clarke should resign . LONDON 1996-12-06 A " Euro-sceptic " member of the ruling Conservative party said on Thursday British finance minister Kenneth Clarke had to resign to prevent the party disintegrating over the issue of a single European currency . Member of Parliament Tony Marlow said the resignation of the chancellor of the exchequer was the only way to make the Conservatives electable in a general election which must take place by May next year . " We have a divided and split Cabinet . This cannot endure , " Marlow told BBC television 's Newsnight programme on Thursday . " It is not sustainable . Kenneth Clarke has to go . If he does n't resign , the prime minister has got to fire him . " Marlow 's comment come on the heels of speculation that Clarke had threatened to resign if the government changed its " wait and see " policy on a single currency and declared it would not sign up for the currency in the next Parliament . Clarke denied on Thursday he had threatened to resign and said his position on the single currency was in tune with that of Prime Minister John Major . Major told parliament on Thursday he would keep his options open on single-currency membership . His statement was interpreted as a significant victory for Clarke and fellow pro-European Michael Heseltine , deputy prime minister . Pro-European Conservative MP Edwina Currie told the BBC that if Clarke resigned , other ministers would go with him .