The British are at heart isolationist while our leaders are strategists who see the benefit of alliances with almost anybody. I’m no historian but any fule can see we have fought against and subsequently fought alongside almost every country in Europe (and the United States). And then there’s Russia …
So why did we vote to remain in the EEC in 1975? When we joined in 1973 under a Conservative government led by Heath there may have been rejoicing in parliament and board rooms but the majority of the population were anti-Europe. In June 1975 on a turnout of 64.5%, 67.2% voted to stay in Europe. The referendum took place under a Labour government led by Wilson. The Labour party was in favour of leaving Europe but its leadership were pro-Europe.
When battle lines were drawn up the three main parties were pro-Europe: Labour, Conservatives and Liberals. There were dissenters in every party but the centre ground was solidly pro-Europe. The antis were drawn from the left and right, from the Communist Party to the National Front, from Ian Paisley to the IRA and some Scottish and Welsh Nationalists for good measure. This diversity made it hard for them to work coherently together and made it easy for the Europeans to paint them as a rag-bag of loonies.
After much in-fighting the two main anti Europe groups, the Common Market Safeguards Campaign and Get Britain Out, agreed to pool their resources and change their name to the National Referendum Campaign. They started in January 1975, three months before the pro-Europe group but it didn’t do them much good. They attracted little funding, were poorly organised and their leadership had little experience of running a national campaign. On the plus side they had some great orators like Enoch Powell. Tony Benn, Michael Foot and Ian Paisley only most of them were toxic in the eyes of the voters. Nevertheless in January 1975 they had a majority of voters supporting leaving the EEC.
That they were defeated six months later was because of Britain in Europe. Had Cameron and Remainers across the party spectrum studied the tactics used by BIE in 1975 they might have made a better case for staying in Europe in 2016. The Sun called BIE “the most powerful all-party coalition since the war”. Although BIE was only launched in March 1975 its supporters had been laying its foundations since 1974, recruiting and training 600 public speakers and 17 regional organisers, and recruiting opinion formers from every conceivable walk of life. BIE raised some £2 million in private donations, almost 200 times more than the National Referendum Campaign.
BIE was a slick, professional operation ahead of its time in its campaign literature and use of the media. Furthermore it supported a diverse range of pro Europe bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry, the Trade Union Alliance for Europe, Scotland in Europe, Wales in Europe, Christians for Europe, etc. As BIE began to shift public opinion in its favour it did not relax its efforts, something that Remainers should have learned in 2016. Robert Saunders explains:
The shadow that hung over the campaign was the Norwegian referendum of 1972. In Norway, as in Britain, almost all senior politicians had backed membership; yet a bold anti-establishment campaign, run by the thirty-seven-year-old lawyer Arne Haugestad, had won a stunning victory for the Antis. The words “remember Norway” were chanted like an incantation by pro-Marketeers as a protective charm against complacency. Not since 1940 had Norway loomed so large in British politics, ensuring that even substantial poll leads were viewed with suspicion.
BIE recruited leading sportsmen, actors, TV stars, musicians and writers. They sought to show that being pro Europe was not just something politicians were in favour of. The BIE themes were that being in the EEC was good for jobs and food prices and economic security. BIE reminded voters of the price Britain had paid in the war and of the millions of Europeans who had died; a better Britain in a better Europe was now on offer.
A BIE poster read – For membership: The Labour Government, The Conservative Party, The Liberal Party, The National Farmers’ Union, Australia, Canada, New Zealand. Against membership: The IRA, The Communist Party, The National Front, International Marxists, The Rev Ian Paisley. BIE branded its opponents as bigots and xenophobes. The Sun told readers that the referendum was “less and less about Europe and more a battle between the sane, sensible moderate majority and lunatic fringe extremists.
Never mind that much of the BIE campaign rhetoric was not strictly true. It changed British opinion more than the most ardent European could have hoped for at the beginning of 1975. Its innovative strategies are the forerunners of 21st century election tactics.