We are the zombie euro zone economies," they cried. "We are the walking dead. We are Greece, Spain and Ireland. Give us trillions, sir, of your money to help us. Do you feel the contagion ? Do you feel the disease?" 

Welcome to this year's conference of Britain's ruling Conservative Party, where hostility to the European Union and to the euro currency has reached new heights.

  Europe has never been popular among British Conservatives. 

There is a tradition of resentment of Brussels, dating back to the era of Margaret Thatcher, who demanded and secured a rebate from the EU budget for Britain in the 1980s. Back in 1967, French President Charles de Gaulle accused Britain of a 'deep-seated hostility' towards the European project.

  The strength of feeling today reflects a growing anti-Europe sentiment among a British public that is often ignorant of the fact the continent accounts for around half Britain's trade and is swayed by a government and media that routinely blame the euro zone for Britain's economic ills.