Thatcher Aide Quits in Europe Policy Rift : Britain: The former foreign secretary favors a single European currency. But the prime minister does not.

Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe resigned from the government Thursday after a rift with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over Britain’s commitment to Europe.

His resignation came five days after Howe suggested in a television interview that Thatcher would eventually drop her adamant opposition to a single European currency.

In his letter of resignation, Howe said: “I am deeply anxious that the mood you have struck . . . will make it more difficult for Britain to hold and retain a position of influence in this vital debate (over Britain’s role in Europe).

” . . . I do not believe that I can any longer serve with honor as a member of your government.”

Thatcher responded that she did not believe their differences “are nearly so great as you suggest.”

She said she accepted his resignation “more in sorrow than in anger,” according to the Press Assn., Britain’s domestic news agency.

“Thatcher has been bitten by the man she treated as a doormat--and she deserves it,” said Neil Kinnock, leader of the opposition Labor Party.

“This is a mortal blow to Mrs. Thatcher’s government,” said Paddy Ashdown, leader of the small, pro-European Liberal Democratic Party.

Howe was the last Cabinet minister to have served continuously since Thatcher came to power in 1979, but he had appeared to be out of favor since he was replaced as foreign secretary last summer.

Tall, rotund and soft-spoken, Howe seemed an unlikely participant in a controversy. Labor Party lawmaker Denis Healey once remarked that arguing with Howe was “like being savaged by a dead sheep.”

Because of his position on Europe, Howe was removed as foreign minister last year and shunted into the newly created post of deputy prime minister. He also held the titles of lord president of the council and leader of the House of Commons.

His resignation as deputy prime minister followed yet another row over Europe. Last weekend, Thatcher found herself standing alone against 11 other European Community leaders on setting a timetable for adopting a single currency.

In a television interview in London, Howe suggested that Thatcher might eventually change her mind.

“We’ve had occasions like this before,” he said. “I’ve attended a number of summit meetings with the prime minister on which, at this preliminary stage, we’ve found ourselves expressing a sharply different view, or apparently sharply different view.”

Howe, 63, was first elected to Parliament in 1964, was out of office from 1966 to 1970 and has served continuously since then.

He was appointed chancellor of the exchequer, the top treasury official, in Thatcher’s first Cabinet. In 1983 he became foreign secretary and served until 1989.

His departure underlined the deep divisions within the Conservative Party, which trailed Labor by 16 percentage points in two newspaper polls published last weekend.

The appearance of disarray has been heightened by a series of Cabinet shuffles and resignations, beginning with Howe’s removal as foreign secretary in July, 1989.