1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum
The United Kingdom referendum of 1975 was a post-legislative referendum held on 5 June, 1975 in the whole of the United Kingdom over whether there was support for it to stay in the European Economic Community, which it had entered in 1973, under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. Labour's manifesto for the 1974 general election included a pledge for a referendum, so after Labour won under Harold Wilson, the referendum was held.
In April 1970, during the 1970 general election Edward Heath said that further European integration would not happen “except with the full-hearted consent of the Parliaments and peoples of the new member countries.”[1] Despite this comment, no referendum was held when UK entered into the Common Market into 1973, by entering into an accession treaty on 22 January 1972 (with Denmark, Ireland, Norway) and passing the European Communities Act 1972 on 16 October 1972. The UK joined what would become the European Union with Denmark and Ireland on 1 January 1973. [2]
Harold Wilson was elected in February 1974 in a minority Labour government, gaining a majority in another election shortly afterwards October 1974. It was a manifesto pledge in the general election of February 1974 for a Labour government to re-negotiate better terms for Britain in the EEC, and then hold a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EEC on the new terms. On 9 April 1975, the House of Commons voted 396 (70%) to 170 (30%) in favour of retaining the Common Market on the new terms negotiated by Wilson's government between April 1974 and March 1974. A deal had been reached in a meeting of heads of government in Dublin by 11 March. On 18 March, Wilson declared that "I believe that our re-negotiation objectives have been substantially though not completely achieved." According to a government pamphlet issued for the referendum, "the most important (issues in the re-negotiation) were FOOD and MONEY and JOBS". [3]
Party support
The referendum was called in April 1975. Since Prime Minister Wilson's cabinet was split between strongly pro-Europeans and strongly anti-Europeans, he made the decision, unprecedented outside coalition government, to suspend the constitutional convention of Cabinet collective responsibility and allowed ministers to publicly campaign against each other. In total, seven of the twenty-three members of the cabinet opposed EEC membership.
The "Yes" campaign was supported by Wilson and most of the cabinet, including Denis Healey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; James Callaghan, the Foreign Secretary; and Roy Jenkins, the Home Secretary. It was also supported by the majority of the Conservative Party, by its newly-elected leader Margaret Thatcher, the Liberal Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and by the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party.
The "No" campaign consisted mainly of the left of the Labour party, including cabinet ministers such as Tony Benn, the Secretary of State for Industry, Michael Foot, Peter Shore and Barbara Castle and many Labour backbenchers. Some members of the right of the Conservative Party also campaigned for "No". Most of the Ulster Unionist Party supported the "No" campaign, most prominently the former Conservative minister Enoch Powell. Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party publicly supported the "No" campaign. The campaign also attracted support from the extreme right, such as the National Front, and the extreme left such as the Communist Party of Great Britain. The Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru were also in the "No" campaign.
At a one day Labour party conference on 26 April 1975, the Labour membership rejected continuing EEC membership by almost 2:1 against. Tony Benn, a leader of the "No" campaign said "We have had a conference and the decision is clear,". "It is very clear that there now must be a move for the Labour Party to campaign." The majority of the Labour Party leadership was strongly for continuing membership, and the margin of the party vote was not a surprise, since only seven of forty-six trade unions present at the conference supported EEC membership. Prior to the conference the party had decided that if the conference voted by a margin of of 2:1 or more in favour of a particular option it would then proactively support that position in the referendum campaign, otherwise the "party machine" would remain neutral. It is reputed that the delegatation from one particular trade union did not in fact vote according to their Trade Union mandate. These votes that made the difference between the party simply declaring that its policy was anti EC, and proactively campaiging for a No vote.
At the time, high unemployment was widely blamed by EEC opponents on the Common Market, the impact of European imports on Britain's economy. Shirley Williams, speaking for the "Yes" campaign said "It's much better than we had feared, but not quite as good as we had hoped."
Funding and media support
The government officially endorsed the "Yes" campaign. Harold Wilson said "'Her Majesty's Government have decided to recommend to the British people to vote for staying in the Community". A pamphlet was sent "to every household in Britain", the purpose of which was according to itself to "help you to decide how to cast your vote", and to "ask(ing) you to vote in favour of remaining in the Community". No mention was made of the plans to create a monetary and political union. Politicians knew this was the goal but deliberately hid these facts from the public.
During the campaign, virtually all the mainstream national British press supported the "Yes" campaign, even the centre-right Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail. The communist Morning Star was the only notable national daily to back the "No" campaign. Television broadcasts was used by both campaigns, similarly to party election broadcasts in general elections. They were broadcast simultaneously all three terrestrial channels: BBC 1, BBC 2 and ITV, attracting audiences of up to 20 million. The "Yes" campaign advertisements were thought to be much more effective, showing their speakers listening to and answering people's concerns, whilst the "No" campaign's broadcasts were mainly speakers reading from an autocue.
The "Yes" campaign was much better funded from the outset. According to the treasurer of the "Yes" campaign, Alastair McAlpine, "The banks and big industrial companies put in very large sums of money". At the time, big business was "overwhelmingly pro-European"[4], and Harold Wilson met several prominent industrialists to elicit support. John Mills, the national agent of the "No" campaign recalled "We were operating on a shoe-string compared to the Rolls Royce operation on the other side,"[5]. McAlpine said "The whole thrust of our campaign was to depict the anti-Marketeers as unreliable people – dangerous people who would lead you down the wrong path,". "It wasn't so much that it was sensible to stay in, but that anybody who proposed that we came out was off their rocker or virtually Marxist."[5].
Tony Benn controversially claimed "Half a million jobs lost in Britain and a huge increase in food prices as a direct result of our entry into the Common market"[4], using his position as Industry Minister as an authority. However, his claims were ridiculed by the "Yes" campaign and ministers, such as Roy Jenkins. The Daily Mirror labelled Benn the "Minister of Fear" and other newspapers similarly derisive.
Results
The electorate were asked to vote yes or no on the question: '"Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?" Every administrative county in the UK had a majority of "Yes", except the Shetland Islands and Western Isles.
| Yes votes | Yes votes (%) | No votes | No (%) | Turnout (%) |
| 17,378,581 | 67.2 | 8,470,073 | 32.8 | 64.5 |
Reaction
Prime Minister Harold Wilson called it a "historic decision". Leading "Yes" campaigner Roy Jenkins said "It puts the uncertainty behind us. It commits Britain to Europe; it commits us to playing an active, constructive and enthusiastic role in it." Tony Benn, a key "No" campaigner said "When the British people speak everyone, including members of Parliament, should tremble before their decision and that's certainly the spirit with which I accept the result of the referendum." [6]
In recent years, Tony Benn has pointed out that many people who were strongly for EEC in 1975 today are against the modern EU. He said "You have to make your case – and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But in the sense that Margaret Thatcher has now come round to my view, Rupert Murdoch has now come round to my view, it wasn't unsuccessful, was it?"[5].
See also
- Referendums in the United Kingdom
- UK general election, 1974 (February)
- UK general election, 1974 (October)
References
- ^ "Ultimate Vindication: The Spectator and Europe 1966-79", Thomas Teodorczuk
- ^ "The History of the European Union", published the EU
- ^ Transcript of government pamphlet advocating to vote to stay in the EEC
- ^ a b The Independent, 4 June 2005, page 6
- ^ a b c "How Britain first fell for Europe", Michael Cockerell, BBC News online
- ^ BBC news online: On This Day, 1975: UK embraces Europe in referendum