End Of Post-War Consunsus - Foreign Affairs

Question 1

When was Britain’s entry into the EEC?

Answer 1

1973

Question 2

Why were they likely to be accepted into the EEC?

Answer 2

PMs:
Edward Heath was pro-European (saw European cooperation as the key to preventing repetition of Nazi gov. in Germany) as opposed to Harold Wilson who was uncommitted to European membership (more worried about maintaining unity within the Labour Party)

French president:
Georges Pompidou was convinced that the EEC needed Britain just as much as Britain needed the EEC. Before this was president Charles de Gaulle who was suspicious of Britain’s links with the USA.

Arrangements already in place:
All the hard, detailed arrangements and exceptions were already in place due to the work done in 1962 by Heath’s team of negotiators

Question 3

What was the biggest issue in joining the EEC?

Answer 3

Gaining parliamentary approval in Britain
- doubters in the Conservative Party (those who believed in the Commonwealth and believed that Britain would be surrendering her sovereignty) e.g. Enoch Powell - believed Heath had betrayed the country by signing the treaty before it had been debated by parliament

Question 4

Labour party’s stand on the entry into the EEC

Answer 4

Even more badly divided on the issue than the Conservative Party. Some were committed pro-Europeans (e.g Roy Jenkins) but the Labour Left was mostly hostile

Wilson was neither for or against as he was mainly focused on ensuring party unity

However Labour could not vote against due to how many pro-Europeans were in the party and so Wilson argued that the terms were not good enough - however still didn’t satisfy everyone and the only way to keep the party together was for Wilson to call a national referendum (a renegotiation) WHEN LABOUR CAME BACK INTO POWER.

Question 5

Entering the EEC

Answer 5

Heath brought Britain into the EEC but the likelihood of a referendum in the future meant that there was still uncertainty

Others believed that they were 16 years too late and Britain would suffer adversely from missing out on the formative years of the EEC since 1957

Question 6

The European Referendum

Answer 6

1975

Labour returned to government in 1974 w/ Wilson whose main aim was party unity. Allowed his party members to vote differently to each other rather than trying to enforce party line

Wilson and Callaghan argued themselves as neutral

Question 7

YES vote

Answer 7

1975 YES vote was much stronger than before
- economic mess in country proved Britain needed the EEC for its own survival
- well financed by business supporters
- politicians at the head of the campaign included most of the cabinet led by Roy Jenkins + Edward Heath , most senior conservatives, and Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe

= bigger impression on the public than those on the other side