1975: The UK’s First Referendum

Before the formation of the European Union (EU) in 1993, many European countries were linked through the European Economic Community (often shorted to “EC”, “EEC” or “the Common Market”).

The EEC was established in 1958 and the United Kingdom became a member state in 1973. However, after only two years, Harold Wilson’s newly-elected Labour government put the matter of continued membership to a public vote.

On the 5th of June 1975, the UK held its first ever nationwide referendum over whether to leave or stay in the EEC. Over 40 million Brits headed to the polls - and the majority (67%) voted to stay.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the referendum, staff at Churchill Archives Centre have collaborated with second-year History students at Anglia Ruskin University, who visited the archives to explore historical material related to the referendum.

How did the British public feel about Europe in the 1970s? Why did they vote to remain? What pro-Europe or anti-Europe messages did they encounter from politicians, the media, and their peers?

This exhibition will discuss these questions and more…

“Britain made a mistake by not engaging with Europe during the ‘40s and ‘50s”

This transcript is part of an interview with Sir Donald Maitland, who was the UK’s Permanent Representative to the EEC from 1975 until 1979. Maitland speaks about the differing attitudes toward Europe and the USA amongst British policymakers.

He concedes that Britain made a mistake by not engaging with Europe regarding further integration during the 1940s and 1950s. He explains how the wartime alliance with the Americans, as well as Britain’s financial debt, were key reasons for Britain strengthening relations with America over Europe.

The source provides insight into how British diplomacy was conducted, providing reasoning as to why policymakers such as Ernest Bevin and Anthony Eden behaved in the way they did post-World War II.

The audio recording of Maitland’s interview (DOHP 27) is preserved by Churchill Archives Centre as part of the British Diplomatic Oral History programme. You can read the full transcript online through our Access Portal.

"What would happen if Britain joined?”

This is an excerpt from a brochure created in 1960, three years after the Treaty of Rome established the EEC. It aimed to present the potential benefits and drawbacks of Britain joining the EEC in an easily understandable manner.

The advantages outlined include an increase in the standard of living and Britain’s ability to shape the future of Europe more effectively than if it remained outside the EEC.

The primary concerns about joining focus on how British trade with the Commonwealth could be adversely affected by customs charges.

The brochure is preserved in Churchill’s personal archive (CHUR 2/513).

“The benefits of joining the EEC gradually became common knowledge”

A series of financial crises and upsets meant that, by the early 1970s, the benefits of joining the once eschewed European Economic Community gradually became common knowledge.

This Economists’ Desk Diary (PJAY 6/1/11), dating from roughly 1973-4, belonged to popular economist Peter Jay in his position as financial editor for the Times newspaper. An array of contemporary statistics and general facts are fitted into only 10 pages or so, as a means of educating government officials, professional economists and the public alike.

The Diary itself was embellished with Jay’s initials as a personal or professional gift, but appears to show few signs of wear-and-tear, which may imply that it was not frequently consulted.

Jay’s diary nevertheless allows the researching historian to gauge the variety of perspectives and arguments shaping the leadup to the 1975 membership referendum.

“Integration was a laborious process”

The decision to begin petitioning for British/European integration was naturally a laborious process which took considerable time, effort and persuasion across both parties before it became a reality.

Much of this work was undertaken by the burgeoning civil service, who often coordinated a variety of preliminary conferences in the leadup to Britain’s national integration in 1973.

As a high-ranking diplomat, Sir Roy Denman’s records include some important documents about this work.

Denman’s archived records, all dating from the long period of negotiation before the UK’s integration, give us a glimpse into the politics of the time, which were often tumultuous.

One key document is a speech that Edward Heath gave at the EEC summit in Paris in October 1972. This was the first EEC summit attended by UK representatives; the UK became a full member state the following year.

See the text of Heath’s speech below, published in a then-confidential recording of the summit (DNMN 1/4).

“The Community is not simply a mercantile arrangement… it is much more than that".”

Heath's speech at the European Summit Conference (DNMN 1/4)

Had joining the EEC in 1973 caused prices to rise?

This source (SOAM 3/2/18) belongs to a series of questions put to the Commission of the European Communities in 1974. This particular question asks what requirements of the EEC have led to price increases in Britain.

The source is intriguing because it explains how price increases in Great Britain at the time were actually significantly less than those seen outside of the Community, and that prices would be far higher without the Community’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) regulations. The source highlights the way in which the Common Customs Tariff (CCT) impacted import costs on a variety of products such as textiles, paper products, and pharmaceutical supplies to Britain’s benefit.

The way it discusses the progressive introduction of CAP compared to the context of the British economy of the time is interesting, because it explains how prices may have seemed like they were are increasing exponentially, but actually that was not the case.

Full list of questions addressed by the European Commission in 1974 (SOAM 3/2/18)

The Common Market’s impact on food and drink

Another question from this source relates to the standardisation and legislation of beer and beer mugs within the Community.

The source considers Britain and the types of beer available in whatever volumes, and also brings into consideration the wider range of beers that would be available throughout Europe, as well as how rules would work regarding exporting.

The source highlights that alcohol availability was an important issue during a time of concern about food prices, the economy, and the Commonwealth.

“Unquantifiable benefits”

This 1975 source is very positive about the EEC. It covers all the ways that membership of the EEC would benefit Britain through investment, either by allowing Britain to better invest in its own economy by having reduced tariffs within the Community, or by highlighting how Britain’s place within the EEC makes them more attractive, particularly mentioning oil-rich investors.

It goes into detail about the benefits for both developing and developed Commonwealth countries, and asserts that the EEC was a strong economic and political unit that Britain would have to work against if they chose to withdraw, whereas as a member they could influence policy from within.

It is enticing how it describes Britain as only benefitting from membership. For example, it says that withdrawal would risk employment decreasing, make food supply chains inconsistent, and cause the agricultural industry to struggle.

The source (SOAM 3/2/19) has been preserved in the archive of Christopher Soames.

Baron Soames was a politician and enthusiastic Europeanist. He helped to prepare for Britain's entry into the EEC in the 1970s. He was married to Winston Churchill’s youngest daughter, Mary.

“Allow the British people to have the last say”

This source is a press release announcing the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, speaking against Edward Heath in regard to the EEC. (SOAM 3/2/21)
It is quite an important document: Wilson talks about challenging Heath to allow the British people to have the last say about whether their nation remains in the EEC or not. There was a clear impact of this parliamentary debate on the EEC, as the referendum took place a year after this announcement.
The decision - staying vs. leaving - was one that plagued UK politicians for years, and in the end, it was laid on the wider population.

“Fourteen years of national argument are over.”

This was Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s declaration to the press on the 5th of June 1975, after the votes had been counted and Britain had chosen to remain in the EEC.

But the debates continued in the decades that followed…

“Britain was seen as a sinking ship”

The source below (SOAM 1/37) is a letter from Dr Kurt Birrenbach to Mrs Shirley Williams, the Secretary of State for Education and Science.

Written two years after the vote, the letter is an insight into a European’s perspective of Britain, specifically that of a German politician. The author is strongly pro-Europe, saying that “Great Britain has to adapt to the realities of the last quarter of this century”.

The author shows understanding for Britain’s hesitations surrounding sovereignty and economy, but still views Britain was seen as a sinking ship that could only benefit from full cooperation with the EEC. Interestingly, Birrenbach blames Trade Unions for the poor economy in Britain, stating that the Trade Union structure “cannot work in a constructive way” when trading with highly industrialised states.

He suggests that the principle issue that most prominent politicians had surrounding joining the EEC was that it was a common market. He then highlights how Britain would actually benefit economically from the low exchange rates within the group.

“Think in realistic terms and do not expect miracles”

Dr Birrenbach's letter (SOAM 1/37)

Towards a European Union

This document (GLAD 1/3/41) starts with a short summary of a parliamentary debate between the chairman of the European Commission’s political committee, the Socialist group, the Christian Democrat group, and the Liberal group.

Each of these groups shares a sceptical tone towards both the European Economic Community and Britain’s entry into it.

Notably, there is speculation in this source (which was only written one month after the British remain vote) about the transition from a “European Economic Community” to a “European Union” . A participant of the meeting emphasised that the “Yes” vote for British entry into the European Economic Community did not mean a “Yes” vote for a wider kind of European Union.

This document is very useful for understanding the views of major political groups and factions in the British government at this point in time.

A forerunner to Brexit?
The “Out of Europe” campaign

However, ongoing campaigns for the United Kingdom’s integration into the EEC were not always well met, and stances on Europe did not fall neatly across party lines. Nigel Spearing’s personal records - as a local Labour MP in the mid-1970s - are testament to this fact. His archived collection chronicles a variety of cross-party networks, parliamentary factions and outright rebellions, in which he was personally involved.

He personally produced one set of documents as part of a cross-party negotiation in forming the “Out of Europe” campaign, detailing the EEC’s supranational structure, as well as the hit to trading prospects that would follow if the UK were to join; Spearing’s networking as a left-wing Labour MP forced him into the company of politicians who were similarly disaffected from the opposite end of the political spectrum, e.g. Enoch Powell.

Some of Nigel Spearing’s rough notes about the EEC, jotted down while he was in Parliament (SPRG 2/8)

Headlines of articles that Spearing wrote about the EEC in the early 1970s (SPRS 2/8)

Impact on the farming and fishing industries

Finally, this newspaper article, published in Farmers Weekly in 1983, is heavily critical of the United Kingdom being part of the common market, particularly the impact it was having on the farming and fishing industries.

This was almost a decade after the UK joined the EEC, and outlines how, in that decade, the value of their products had reduced greatly, supposedly due to the “successive governments in Common Market wheeling and dealing.”

This particular document is interesting as it gives us perspective into how an ordinary working person viewed British membership of the EEC, instead of a politician’s perspective.

The newspaper article was saved by Enoch Powell and is preserved in his archive (POLL 7/1).

The documents displayed in this exhibition are available to view in Churchill Archive Centre’s reading room, or through digital copies. This is only a small selection of the material that we hold related to the EEC.

You can find more archive material relating to the EEC and EU by searching terms in our catalogue ArchiveSearch.

Thank you to Anglia Ruskin University students for their contributions: James Hazeldine, Sophi Derrett, Kaylem Maddem, Jack Norris, Tom Underwood, and Sorren Spall.