journal of european integration history revue d'histoire de l ...

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Erin Delaney
In the ensuing Parliamentary debate over application to the EEC, Wilson articulated
many of these examples and arguments to support his case for entry. No less
than three times in his speech on 2 May 1967 did he refer to the “practical working
of the Community”, and on 8 May he reiterated the importance of the nature of the
institutions rather than the articles of the Treaty. “My experience with the working
of the Community, the actual practical working, and what we have learned in our
discussions about its working, render unfounded the fears and anxieties which I
certainly had and very fully expressed, based on a literal reading of the Treaty of
Rome and regulations made under it”. 45 Wilson’s comments attest to the fact that it
was not Labour's (or his) ideology that was changing, but rather that Labour's ideological
convictions could be accommodated within the EEC.
Other Members of Parliament also embraced this new view of the EEC allowing
them ideological constancy. Labour MP Eric Heffer encapsulated the vision of the
Community:
“We have the opportunity within our grasp as a Labour and Socialist movement to
influence the future of Europe for all time. […] I believe that we can get a Socialist
United States of Europe”. 46
He elaborated at the 1967 Labour Party Conference:
“We must fight for a Socialist United States of Europe […] I believe that the way to
get there is first to get into the EEC, to fight for its expansion and to fight to turn it
into a Socialist economic community”. 47
Unfortunately for the future of the Labour Party, there never existed a consensus
position on Europe within the Party. Compounded by economic and political concerns,
the split within the party ran deep. At the 1967 Labour Party Conference,
votes in all areas under discussion were very close, as the effects of joining or not
joining the Common Market overshadowed all policies. One motion demonstrates
both the split within the Party and some of the factors influencing the move towards
Europe. The motion in question was carried by 3,350,000 for, and 2,697,000
against; it read:
“This Conference welcomes the Government’s decision to apply for membership of
the European Economic Community and to negotiate satisfactory terms for British
entry. Conference is encouraged by the support of our Socialist and Trades Union
colleagues in the Six for the entry of Britain and other E.F.T.A. countries and is convinced
that British membership would be a vital step towards European unity”. 48
The Labour Party entered the 1970s divided on the question of Europe, with rising
left-right tension approaching a dangerous precipice. Wilson as party leader was confronted
with the task of unifying the party - one that he could not accomplish.
45. Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, HOUSE OF COMMONS, 5 th Series, 746(1967): 321-322.
46. Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, HOUSE OF COMMONS, 5 th Series, 746(1967): 1154-1156.
47. Labour Party Conference Report, 1967, pp.280-281 as quoted in M. NEWMAN, Socialism and
European Unity, op.cit., p.216.
48. F.W.S. CRAIG (ed.), Conservative and Labour Party Conference Decisions 1945-1981, Parliamentary
Research Services, Chichester, 1982, p.237.