Two historical accounts - the
1975 EEC Referendum and then the growth of Euro-sceptisism
Lectures by Professor Victor Bogdanor
The story behind the greatest triumph that pro-Europeans in Britain have ever enjoyed; a two-to-one majority for staying in Europe:
Labour in opposition rejected entry on the terms negotiated by the Conservatives, but promised a renegotiation and referendum (plus a change!). This lecture analyses the reasons for Labour's stance and why it was that the referendum led to a two-to-one majority for staying in Europe, the greatest triumph that pro-Europeans in Britain have ever enjoyed.
This lecture analyses the growth of euroscepticism, first in the Labour Party after 1979, and then in the Conservative Party culminating in Margaret Thatcher's Bruges speech (1988) and opposition to the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. The relationship remains controversial, leading to the pressures which have led to David Cameron's commitment to further renegotiation and referendum.