The British Political Elite and the Issue of Europe 1959 to 1984
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University of Huddersfield Repository Nicholls, Robert The British political elite and the issue of Europe 1959 to 1984 Original Citation Nicholls, Robert (2014) The British political elite and the issue of Europe 1959 to 1984. Doctoral thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/24474/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ THE BRITISH POLITICAL ELITE AND THE ISSUE OF EUROPE 1959 TO 1984 ROBERT LISTER NICHOLLS A thesis submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2014 Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns any copyright in it (the “copyright”) and he has given The University of Huddersfield the right to use such Copyright for any administrative, promotional, educational and/or teaching purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts, may be made only in accordance with the regulations of the University Library. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of any patents, designs, trademarks and any other intellectual property rights except for the Copyright (the “intellectual Property Rights”) and any reproductions of copyright works, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property Rights and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available to use without prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant intellectual Property Rights and/or Reproductions. 1 Dedication To the memory of my loving parents, Robert and Emily Nicholls 2 Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to examine the debate over Britain’s application for membership of the European Community. It explains the significant impact which short- term political calculations played in the stances adopted by individual members of the political elite. This political expediency was a major reason for the inadequacies of the debate on membership. Central to the research is a set of individual trajectories displaying the positions adopted by parliamentarians and political parties from 1959-1984 during which time Britain’s very membership of the European Community was at stake. The trajectories include a representative sample of Conservative and Labour MPs compiled using interviews, voting records, speeches and other evidence. While the aim of the thesis is to analyse whether members of the elite held views determined by concerns other than the substantive issue itself, the thesis also advances the argument that many failed to consider the long-term implications of Britain’s membership. The lack of a comprehensive debate of sufficient quality contributed substantially to later problems with Britain’s relationship with Europe. The chronological chapters analyse significant events at particular stages in the evolution of Britain’s relationship with Europe. The 1975 referendum on Common Market membership for example, is a spectacularly significant milestone – not only for Britain and Europe, but also in respect of the positions taken by Britain’s political elite, whose views were often shaped or changed as a consequence of the political machinations surrounding the issue. Analysis of this and other events including general elections and leadership changes, provide a greater understanding of why members of the political elite subordinated the issue of Britain’s future in Europe to short-term, pragmatic, party management or career considerations. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been achieved without the help and guidance of my supervisor, Professor Brendan Evans who ensured I remained focussed throughout the research process. I would also like to thank Dr. Andrew Mycock, Dr. Catherine McGlynn, Dr. Andrew Scott Crines and Dr. Lynne Haycock who have assisted me at various points of this research. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Alison Rodriguez for donating her valuable time to read and provide constructive comments on my thesis. Extra special thanks must be extended to Lord Clark of Windermere, Lord Howe of Aberavon, Sir Gerald Kaufman, Philip Davies MP, Mike Wood MP, the late Stanley Crowther MP, Dr. Richard North and Christopher Booker for graciously affording me interviews that have assisted in guiding this research. I also extend my gratitude to those other contributors with whom I engaged in correspondence over the course of this research. I also wish to express my profound gratitude to the following organisations that have allowed me to access their archives in the course of the research of this thesis. The staff of the People’s History Museum in Manchester, the staff of the Hull History Centre, the staff of the University of Huddersfield Library and Archive, the staff of the University of Leeds library (especially in respect of their Hansard collection), the staff of the British Library in London and Boston Spa, the staff of the British Library Newspapers section in London, Conservative Central Office, and last but not least, the staff of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. These organisations have provided a significant amount of primary sourced materials upon which this thesis relies. 4 Abbreviations ACML .................................................... Anti-Common Market League AEU ....................................................... Alternative European Strategy BfS ......................................................... Business for Sterling BIE ......................................................... Britain in Europe CAP ....................................................... Common Agricultural Policy CBI ........................................................ Confederation of British Industry CCO ...................................................... Conservative Central Office CDS ....................................................... Campaign for Democratic Socialism CIA ........................................................ Central Intelligence Agency CLP ....................................................... Constituency Labour Party DLC ....................................................... Democratic Leadership Council DVLA ..................................................... Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency EC ......................................................... European Community ECSC…………………………………….. European Coal and Steel Community EDC………………………………………. European Defence Community EDM ...................................................... Early Day Motion EEC ....................................................... European Economic Community EFTA ..................................................... European Free Trade Association EMU ...................................................... Economic and Monetary Union ERM ...................................................... Exchange Rate Mechanism EU ......................................................... European Union FBI ........................................................ Federation of British Industry GATT ..................................................... General Agreement on Tariff and Trade HEFCE .................................................. Higher Education Funding Council for England IMF ....................................................... International Monetary Fund MCC ...................................................... Marylebone Cricket Club NATO .................................................... North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NEC ....................................................... National Executive Committee NFU ....................................................... National Farmers Union NRC ....................................................... National Referendum Campaign PEST ..................................................... Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism PLP ........................................................ Parliamentary Labour Party PPS ....................................................... Parliamentary Private Secretary QMV ..................................................... Quality Majority Voting RDAs ..................................................... Regional Development Agencies SDP ...................................................... Social Democratic Party TEU ...................................................... Treaty of European Union TGWU ................................................... Transport and General Workers’ Union TUC ....................................................... Trades Union Congress VAT ......................................................