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The Labour Party's Changing Relationship to Europe 133
agreed.” 57 The renegotiated terms passed Parliament on 9 April 1975, though not
because of Labour support. The Government had to rely on Opposition support,
which it received: its own members were split - 137 Labour MPs voting for, 145
against, with 33 abstentions.
The renegotiated terms were almost immaterial at the start of the referendum campaign,
as most of “the opponents of membership were opposed whatever the terms”. 58
The referendum itself was also a question of intraparty factionalism, as the Left hoped
to use the issue of EC membership in order to secure control of the leadership positions,
by gaining support from the many members of the party who were against entry but not
necessarily in favour of radical leftist economic policy. 59 The Left called for a national
referendum on the issue of membership, expecting that with a withdrawal vote it could
consolidate its position within the party. The mainstream element of the party, represented
by Prime Minister Wilson, 60 also thought that the EC debate would provide it
with a chance to strengthen its power – by “outmanoeuvring the left”. 61 Thus Wilson
co-opted the Left’s strategy of holding a referendum. 62
Wilson, in an attempt to hold the party together, waived Cabinet responsibility
during the referendum campaign, paradoxically allowing the Left and the Right of
the Party to criticise each other with impunity. Neil Kinnock, writing in the leftist
Tribune, scoffed at the idea that socialism could be better achieved by going into
Europe and attacked Roy Jenkins and other revisionists:
“Somehow the vocabulary of radical – even revolutionary – socialism has a hollow
ring when it comes from such conventionally Right-wing, or to use current terminology,
‘moderate’ mouths”. 63
In response the Right-wing attacked the ‘Labourism’ of the Left-wing, which was
not ‘socialism’ and was blocking “the way to the establishment of social democracy on
the European model”. 64 Labour leadership hoped that the referendum decision in favour
of entry, on the high turnout of about 65%, would help to put the membership issue
to rest. However, to the Labour Left, the issue was far from settled.
After the referendum, the Labour Party sent representatives to the European
Parliament (EP), which the Conservative Party had done from the time of British
accession in 1973. Some pro-European Labour Members of the European Parlia-
57. S. GEORGE, An Awkward Partner: Britain in the European Community, Clarendon Press, Oxford,
1990, p.79.
58. S. GEORGE, op.cit., p.88.
59. G. BROWN, op.cit., p.76.
60. Although Wilson was initially the Left’s candidate in the early 1960s, by his third term as PM in 1974,
he had become much more centrist, and a supporter, though now lukewarm, of entry to the EC.
61. G. BROWN, op.cit., p.77.
62. For a thorough analysis of the referendum campaign, see J. SMITH, The 1975 Referendum, in:
Journal of European Integration History, vol.1(1999), Nomos, Baden-Baden, 1999, pp.41-56;
and, D. BUTLER and U. KITZINGER, The 1975 Referendum, Macmillan, London, 1999.
63. N. KINNOCK, Socialism and Sovereignty, in: Tribune, 2 May, 1975.
64. S. FIELDING, Labourism and locating the British Labour Party within the European Left, in:
Working Papers in Contemporary History and Politics, No.11, University of Salford, Salford,
1996, p.7.