Woodford, head of investment at Woodford Investment Management says that the Euro project was always destined to fail, as having the same interest rate and monetary policy for economies that are so different was a fundamentally flawed assumption from the start.

He also said that ongoing ambiguity in the UK relationship with the European Union is fundamentally negative to the wider national economy.

Contending that the EU was committed to keeping the show on the road in respect of the Euro, Woodford forecasts that the UK will eventually be obliged to either adopt the euro, or secede from the EU entirely. “I think economics has a habit of overruling politics,” he said.

However, despite his misgivings about the Eurozone, Woodford believes a British exit from the EU would be “very negative” in the short term at least, and that David Cameron’s referendum promise has already “put a brake” on investment in the UK. He also expressed unease at the prospect of an ‘in/out’ referendum, believing it would “create a lot of political and economic uncertainty in the UK.” His comments echo WPP’s annual outlook statement, released yesterday.

“Ultimately,” Woodford concluded, “this country will have to make a choice about whether it is a fully signed up member of a Eurozone project or not. We have to either make a decision to get fully out or fully in.”