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The London School of Economics and Political Science No Clear Course Harold Macmillan, Richard Austen Butler, Agricultural Politics and the First British Application to the European Economic Community, 1961-3 Diana Twining A thesis submitted to the Department of International History of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, July, 2010. 1 UMI Number: U615714 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615714 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorization does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. Abstract This thesis explores how senior members of British political life attempted to come to terms with certain aspects of the key post-war issue of European integration. It adopts a political approach to the first application, comparing the roles taken by Cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, Whitehall officials and a powerful interest group, the National Farmers’ Union, in addition to examining the underlying economic factors. Its central focus is to establish how the Macmillan government thought it could make an application to the European Economic Community, which would involve membership of a Common Agricultural Policy, whilst at the same time adopting strategy and tactics intended to placate domestic opinion opposed to change to the existing British agricultural support system. It opens by explaining why an issue, as seemingly as parochial as domestic agriculture, was on the list of British priorities in what was a set of international negotiations. It goes on to trace how British strategy and tactics for agriculture failed to alter even though it quickly became apparent that several of the founding members of the European Economic Community were unlikely to agree to what the British were asking. Ultimately it presents new evidence to develop the argument that the negotiations as a whole were marred by a failure to choose between conflicting ideas about the relative importance of domestic agriculture and undermined by a reluctance to confront personal political rivalries. There was no clear course in British strategy and tactics for domestic agriculture and this was a stumbling block in the development of closer ties between Britain and Europe in the post war era. 3 Acknowledgements I am grateful to my doctoral supervisor, Dr. Piers Ludlow, for his constant help and academic guidance. His support was always unflagging and generous. I wish to thank the many people who have guided me through archival sources, including staff at the Public Record Office (The National Register), Trinity College, Cambridge, Churchill College, Cambridge, the Bodleian Library, Oxford, The Museum of English Rural Life at the University of Reading, the British Library Newspaper Archives at Colindale, library staff of the London School of Economic and Political Science and the University of Exeter. In addition, National Farmers’ Union officials, of the former NFU headquarters in London, were unfailingly patient and helpful, and put up with my endless requests for archival boxes. Also invaluable was the convening of a witness seminar ‘British Agriculture and the United Kingdom Applications to Join the European Economic Community’ at the Centre of Contemporary British History, The Institute of Historical Research, University of London, organised by Michael Kandiah, chaired by Piers Ludlow, research, Diana Twining, where the kind words of Sir Michael Palliser were appreciated by the author. All of the witnesses made the day interesting and stimulating. I am particularly indebted to five individuals, including one who wishes to remain anonymous. David Scott Johnstone and Michael Strauss, formerly of the Scottish and English NFU respectively, started me off on my fascination with the internal workings of the NFU and how this affected policy development. Lord Roll of Ipsden, took time off in the latter days of his long and distinguished career to give me an insight into the agricultural and Brussels sides of the negotiations. Finally, Sir Michael Franklin has been a steady source of information and enthusiasm. To my two sons, Timothy and Toby, I would like to say thank you for their forbearance when meals failed to appear and for their encouragement as deadlines came and went. 4 CONTENTS Title Page/ Declaration page 1 Abstract/ Acknowledgements page 3 Table of Contents page 5 List of abbreviations page 7 Introduction page 8 Chapter One page 25 European Integration, Agriculture, Foreign and Defence Policy 1945-61 Chapter Two page 45 A Pro-European Minister of Agriculture Changes Course January-April, 1961 Chapter Three page 68 Splits and Alliances: the Prime Minister and his Cabinet May-December, 1961 5 Chapter Four page 104 Lessons of the CAP Learned But Not Used January-June, 1962 Chapter Five page 142 Holding Back June-August, 1962 Chapter Six page 169 Ministers Rebel September-November, 1962 Chapter Seven page 203 A Quiet Veto September, 1962-January, 1963 Final Conclusions page 241 Appendix One page 257 Bibliography page 258 Abbreviations ACML Anti-Common Market League AEA Atomic Energy Authority BOD Bodleian Library, Oxford BOT Board of Trade CAB Cabinet Files CAP Common Agricultural Policy CET Common External Tariff CHC Churchill College, Cambridge CLA Country Landowners Association CMNC Common Market Negotiating Committee CMN(SC)(0) Common Market Negotiations Steering Committee at Official Le1 CMSG Common Market Steering Group CND Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament CRD Conservative Party Research Department CRO Commonwealth Relations Office ECSC European Coal and Steel Community EDC European Defence Community EEAC European Economic Association Committee EEC European Economic Community EFT A European Free Trade Association EPU European Payments Union ESC Economic Steering Committee FAC Food and Agriculture Committee FBI Federation of British Industry FEOGA Fonds Europeen d’Orientation et de Garantie Agricole (European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund) FO Foreign Office FTA Free Trade Area GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade IMF International Monetary Fund MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries MAF PRO nomenclature for MAFF MLF Multilateral Force NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NEDC National Economic Development Council NFU National Farmers’ Union NUAW National Union of Agricultural Workers NUW National Union of Welsh Farmers OEEC Organisation for European Economic Cooperation PREM Prime Minister’s Files PRO Public Record Office, Kew, London SNFU Scottish National Farmers’ Union T Treasury Files TRC Trinity College, Cambridge WEU Western European Union 7 Introduction Life is pleasant, death is peaceful, it’s the transition that is troublesome. There is a very real sense that British agriculture and the Conservative government, 1961-3, were in a state of transition once the decision was taken to make an application to the European Economic Community (EEC). For agriculture this would mean changing a system of support that had given farmers stability and security after the lean years of the 1930s. For the whole nation it would mean altering the idea that Britain was more than just another European country. Only fifteen years since the end of the Second World War, when the public perception was that only one West European nation had been an unequivocal winner, a British government was proposing to alter its relations with the continent in a manner that would mean sharp modifications to existing internal and international arrangements. Full membership of the EEC for Britain would mean transition from a world to a European role. There were many different visions of how this change could come about, what it might mean for Britain’s future and whether it was desirable. Within the UK, Norman Kipping, Chairman of the Federation of British Industry (FBI), which kept in close consultation with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), doubted that the time was right in 1960-1 for an application because the French were too pre­ occupied with other matters.2 The FBI’s Overseas Policy Committee argued that personal ambitions would pre-empt a change of heart because British entry would alter the relative voting strengths within the Commission, there would be job losses at the top, and Walter Hallstein, President of the European Commission, Jean Rey, Member of the European Commission responsible for external relations, and Robert Maijolin, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for economic union, were opposed to enlargement even if Britain signed on the dotted line. When it came to the NFU rank and file, Sir James Turner (President of the NFU throughout the 1950s and later Lord Netherthorpe), in his valedictory speech found that farmers 1 Isaac Asimov, bio-chemist and science fiction author 2 Tratt, J., The Macmillan Government and Europe A Study in the Process o f Policy Development (London: Macmillan, 1996), pp. 157-8 3 NFU Cyclo Econ.

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