1975 United Kingdom European Communities

membership referendum
The United Kingdom European Communities membership
referendum, also known as the Referendum on the European
United Kingdom European
Community (Common Market), the Common Market
Community (Common Market)
referendum and EEC membership referendum took place on 5
membership referendum
June 1975 in the United Kingdom to gauge support for the
country's continued membership of the European Communities “ The Government has announced the
results of the renegotiation of the
(EC)—often known at the time as the "European Community” United Kingdom's terms of
and the "Common Market"—which it had entered on 1 January membership of the European
1973 under the Conservative government of Edward Heath under Community.
the provisions of the Referendum Act 1975. Labour's manifesto
for the October 1974 general election had promised that the Do you think the United Kingdom
people would decide "through the ballot box"[1] whether to
”
should stay in the European
remain in the EC. Community (the Common Market)?

This was the first national referendum ever to be held throughout Location United Kingdom (pop. 56.225m)
the entire United Kingdom and remained the only UK-wide Date 5 June 1975
referendum until the 2011 referendum on alternative voting was
Results
held thirty-six years later and was the only referendum to be held
on the UK's relationship with Europe until the 2016 referendum Votes %
on continued EU membership.
Yes 17,378,581 67.23%
The electorate expressed significant support for EC membership,
No 8,470,073 32.77%
with 67% in favour on a national turnout of 64%. The
referendum result was not legally binding; however, it was Valid votes 25,848,654 99.79%
widely accepted that the vote would be the final say on the matter
Invalid or blank votes 54,540 0.21%
and would be politically binding on all future Westminster
Parliaments. In a 1975 pamphlet Prime Minister Harold Wilson Total votes 25,903,194 100.00%
said: "I ask you to use your vote. For it is your vote that will now
Registered 40,086,677 64.62%
decide. The Government will accept your verdict."[2] The
voters/turnout
pamphlet also said: "Now the time has come for you to decide.
The Government will accept your decision—whichever way it
goes." Results by county

The February 1974 general election had yielded a Labour

minority government, which then won a majority in the October
1974 general election. Labour pledged in its February 1974
manifesto to renegotiate the terms of British accession to the EC,
and then to consult the public on whether Britain should stay in
the EC on the new terms, if they were acceptable to the
government. The Labour Party had historically feared the
consequences of EC membership, such as the large differentials
between the high price of food under the Common Agricultural
Policy and the low prices prevalent in Commonwealth markets,
as well as the loss of both economic sovereignty and the freedom
of governments to engage in socialist industrial policies, and
party leaders stated their opinion that the Conservatives had
negotiated unfavourable terms for Britain.[3] The EC heads of
government agreed to a deal inDublin on 11 March 1975; Wilson
declared "I believe that our renegotiation objectives have been
substantially though not completely achieved", and said that the
government would recommend a vote in favour of continued
membership.[4] On 9 April the House of Commons voted by 396
to 170 to continue within the Common Market on the new terms.
Along with these developments, the government drafted a
Referendum Bill, to be moved in case of a successful
renegotiation.

The referendum debate and campaign was an unusual time in

British politics and was the third national vote to be held in
seventeen months. During the campaign, the Labour Cabinet was
split and its members campaigned on each side of the question,
an unprecedented breach of Cabinet collective responsibility.
Most votes in the House of Commons in preparation for the
referendum were only carried thanks to opposition support, and
the Government faced several defeats on technical issues such as
the handling and format of the referendum counts. Finally,
although the Government declared in advance that it would Yes No
comply with the result, the referendum itself was not legally
binding upon it. Referendum held on 5 June 1975. The electorate of
40.087m represented 71.3% of the population of
56.225m)

Constitutional documentsand
Contents events relevant to the status of
Background the United Kingdom and its
Legislation constituent countries
Referendum question
Campaigning
Yes campaign (Britain In Europe)
No campaign (National Referendum Campaign)
Official party positions Treaty of Union 1706
The campaign, funding and media support Acts of Union 1707
Counting areas Wales and Berwick Act 1746
Result Irish Constitution 1782
Results by United Kingdom constituent countries Acts of Union 1800
TV coverage Parliament Act 1911
Reactions and consequences Government of Ireland Act 1920
Thirty-year rule Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921
See also Royal and Parliamentary Titles 1927
Further reading Act
References Statute of Westminster 1931
External links United Nations Act 1946
 Parliament Act 1949
EC Treaty of Accession 1972
Background NI (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972
European Communities Act 1972
When the European Coal and Steel
Community was instituted in 1952,
Local Government Act 1972
the United Kingdom decided not to Local Government (Scotland) 1973
become a member. The UK was Act
still absent when the Treaty of NI Border Poll 1973
Rome was signed in 1957, creating NI Constitution Act 1973
the European Economic Referendum Act 1975
Community (the Common Market). EC Membership Referendum 1975
However, in the late 1950s the Scotland Act 1978
Conservative government of Harold Wales Act 1978
Macmillan dramatically changed its Scottish Devolution Referendum 1979
attitude and appointed Edward Welsh Devolution Referendum 1979
Heath to submit an application and Local Government (Wales) Act 1994
lead negotiations for Britain to Local Government etc. 1994
enter the Common Market. The (Scotland) Act
Labour Prime MinisterHarold Wilson
application was made at a meeting Referendums (Scotland & 1997
of the EC in January 1963, but the Wales) Act
French president Charles de Gaulle rebuffed and vetoed Britain's request. Despite Scottish Devolution Referendum 1997
the veto, Britain restarted talks with the European Communities countries in 1967;
Welsh Devolution Referendum 1997
and in April 1970, shortly before the 1970 general election campaign, Heath—who
Good Friday Agreement 1998
by this time was the Conservative Party leader—said that further European
Northern Ireland Act 1998
integration would not happen "except with the full-hearted consent of the
Government of Wales Act 1998
Parliaments and peoples of the new member countries".[5] Heath included
Human Rights Act 1998
negotiating membership in the 1970 Conservative manifesto.[6] Heath became Prime
Scotland Act 1998
Minister, and personally led many of the negotiations: he struck up a friendship with
Government of Wales Act 2006
the new French president Georges Pompidou, who oversaw the lifting of the veto
and thus paved the way for UK membership. Between 21 and 28 October 1971 the
Northern Ireland Act 2009
House of Commons debated whether or not the UK should become a member of the Welsh Devolution Referendum 2011
EC, with then Prime Minister Edward Heath commenting just before the vote: European Union Act 2011
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011

“ But tonight when this House endorses this

Motion many millions of people right across the
Scotland Act
Edinburgh Agreement
2012
2012
world will rejoice that we have taken our rightful
place in a truly United Europe! ” Scottish Independence
Referendum
2014

The House of Commons voted 356-244 in favour of the motion, with the Prime
Wales Act 2014
Minister commenting straight afterwards on behalf of the house.
European Union Referendum 2015
Act
“ Resolved, That this House approves Her
Majesty's Government's decision of principle to EU Membership Referendum 2016
join the European Communities on the basis of
the arrangements which have been negotiated. ” Scotland Act
Wales Act
2016
2017
No referendum was held when Britain agreed to an accession treaty on 22 January EU (Notification of Withdrawal) 2017
1972 or when the European Communities Act 1972 went through the legislative Act
process, on the grounds that to hold one would be unconstitutional. The United Invocation of Article 50 2017
Kingdom joined the European Communities on 1 January 1973, along with
Denmark European Union (Withdrawal) 2018
and the Republic of Ireland. The EC would later become theEuropean Union. Act
Throughout this period, the Labour Party was divided, both on the substantive
issue of EC accession and on the question of whether accession ought to be
approved by referendum. In 1971 pro-Market figures such as Roy Jenkins, the
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, said a Labour government would have
agreed to the terms of accession secured by the Conservatives.[3] However, the
National Executive Committee and the Labour Party Conference disapproved
of the terms. In April 1972 the anti-EC Conservative MP Neil Marten tabled
an amendment to the European Communities Bill, which called for a
consultative referendum on entry. Labour had previously opposed a
referendum, but the Shadow Cabinet decided to support Marten's amendment.
Jenkins resigned as Deputy Leader in opposition to the decision, and many At the time of the referendum, nine
countries were members of theEuropean
Labour MPs abstained on the division.
Communities
At the February 1974 general election, Labour's manifesto promised
renegotiation of Britain's
terms of membership, to be National and regional
followed by a consultative referendums held within the
referendum on continued United Kingdom and its
membership under the new terms if constituent countries
they were acceptable.[7] In the
October 1974 manifesto, this was
changed to the promise that Labour
would "give the British people the
final say, which will be binding on Northern Ireland Border Poll 1973
the Government – through the UK EC Membership Referendum1975
ballot box – on whether we accept Scottish Devolution Referendum 1979
the terms and stay in or reject the Welsh Devolution Referendum 1979
terms and come out."[1] This could Scottish Devolution Referendum 1997
The support of the Conservative
Party, under Leader of the Opposition be interpreted as including the Welsh Devolution Referendum 1997
Margaret Thatcher, was essential to option of an election in 1975;[3] Greater London Authority 1998
the passage of the Government's however, Labour won a working Referendum
European business in the House of majority, and had no need of
Commons. NI Good Friday Agreement 1998
another general election.[8]
Referendum
NE England Devolution 2004
Legislation Referendum
Welsh Devolution Referendum 2011
The government produced a white paper on the proposed referendum on 26 February
UK AV Referendum 2011
1975: it recommended core public funding for both the "Yes" and "No" sides, voting
rights for members of the armed forces and members of the House of Lords, and
Scottish Independence 2014
finally a proposed single central count of the votes for the whole country. This white
Referendum
paper was approved by the House of Commons. On 26 March a Referendum Bill UK EU Membership Referendum2016
was introduced to the Commons; at its second reading on 10 April, MPs voted 312-
248 in favour. Prior to the bill's passing there was no procedure or legislation within the United Kingdom for holding any such
plebiscite. The vote, the only nationwide plebiscite to be held in the UK during the 20th century, was of constitutional significance.
Referendums had been widely opposed in the past, on the grounds that they violated the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. The
.[9]
first major referendum to be held in any part of the UK had been thesovereignty referendum in Northern Ireland in 1973

How the votes should be counted caused much division as the Bill went through Parliament. The government were of the opinion that
as it was substantially different from that of a general election and that as a national referendum the United Kingdom was a single
constituency and favoured an unprecedented single national count of all the votes for the whole country to take place Earls
at Court in
London over several days with one declaration of the final result by the National Counting Officer (later in the legislation the title
was changed to Chief Counting Officer) but the proposal didn't attract the wider support of the Labour Party or the opposition parties;
the Liberal Party favoured individual counts in each of the parliamentary constituencies and tabled an amendment, but was defeated
by 263 to 131 votes in the House of Commons; however, another amendment, tabled in the Commons by Labour MP Roderick
MacFarquhar, sought to have separate counts for each administrative region (the post-1974 county council areas): this won cross-
[3]
party support, and was carried by 272 to 155 votes.

The Act did not specify any national supermajority of "Y

es" votes for approval of the terms; a simple majority of 50% + 1 vote would
suffice to win the vote. It received royal assent on 8 May 1975, just under a month before the vote took place.[10] During the
legislative process, the government also held informal talks with the governments of the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey to discuss
the possibility of holding simultaneous referendums of their own on continued EC membership; however, the idea was dropped
because the UK Parliament had no jurisdiction to pass or impose legislation on those islands, being as they were (and are) Crown
dependencies.

Referendum question
The question that would be put to the British electorate, as set out in theAct was:

The Government has announced the results of the renegotiation of the United Kingdom's terms of membership of the
European Community.

Do you think that the United Kingdom should stay in the Eur
opean Community (the Common Market)?

A simple YES / NO answer was permitted (to be marked with a single 'X').

The question that was used was one of the options in the Government White Paper of February 1975, although during the passage of
the Referendum Bill through Parliament, the Government agreed to add the words "Common Market" in brackets at the end of the
question.

The referendum took place 25 years before the passing of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 by the then
Labour Government of Tony Blair, which introduced into British law a general procedure for the holding of UK-wide referendums
and effectively created the Electoral Commission, a body that would oversee such votes and also test and research proposed
referendum questions.

Campaigning
The referendum was called in April 1975 after the renegotiation was formally concluded. Since Prime Minister Harold Wilson's
cabinet was split between supporters and opponents of the Common Market, and since members of each side held their views
strongly, he made the decision, unprecedented outside coalition government, to suspend the constitutional convention of Cabinet
collective responsibility. Cabinet members would be allowed to publicly campaign against each other. In total, seven of the twenty-
three members of the cabinet opposed EC membership.[11] Wilson's solution was that ministers speaking in the House of Commons
should reflect government policy (i.e. support for EC membership), but would be allowed to speak freely elsewhere, thus avoiding a
mass dismissal of Cabinet ministers. In spite of this, one minister, Eric Heffer, was obliged to resign after speaking against EC
membership in the House of Commons.

Yes campaign (Britain In Europe)

The "Yes" campaign was officially supported by Wilson[12] and the majority of his cabinet, including the holders of the three other
Great Offices of State: Denis Healey, the Chancellor of the Exchequer; James Callaghan, the Foreign Secretary; and Roy Jenkins, the
Home Secretary. It was also supported by the majority of the Conservative Party, including its newly elected leader Margaret
Thatcher—249 of 275 party members in Parliament supported staying in the EC in a
free vote in April 1975[12] —the Liberal Party, the Social Democratic and Labour
Party, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and the Vanguard Unionist Progressive
Party.

No campaign (National Referendum Campaign)

The influential Conservative Edward du Cann said that "the Labour party is Logo of the Keep Britain in Europe
hopelessly and irrevocably split and muddled over this issue".[12] The "No" campaign.
campaign included the left wing of the Labour Party, including the cabinet ministers
Michael Foot, Tony Benn, Peter Shore, Eric Varley, and Barbara Castle who during
the campaign famously said "They lured us into the market with the mirage of the
market miracle". Some Labour "No" supporters, including Varley, were on the right
wing of the party, but most were from the left. The No campaign also included a
large number of Labour backbenchers; upon the division on a pro-EC White Paper
about the renegotiation, 148 Labour MPs opposed their own government's measure,
whereas only 138 supported it and 32 abstained.[3]

"Many Conservatives feel the European Community is not good for Britain ... The
Conservative party is divided on it too", du Cann—head of the Conservatives' 1922
Committee—added,[12] although there were far fewer Eurosceptic figures in the Logo of the Out into the World
Parliamentary Conservative Party in 1975 than there would be during later debates campaign by the National
on Europe, such as the accession to the Maastricht Treaty. Most of the Ulster Referendum Campaign.
Unionist Party were for "No" in the referendum, most prominently the former
Conservative minister Enoch Powell, who after Benn was the second-most
prominent anti-Marketeer in the campaign.[13] Other parties supporting the "No"
campaign included theDemocratic Unionist Party, the Scottish National Party, Plaid
Cymru, and parties outside Parliament including the National Front and the
Communist Party of Great Britain.

Official party positions

Conservative and Liberal Party conferences consistently supported EC membership
for several years up to 1975. At a Labour Party conference on 26 April 1975, the
Labour membership rejected continuing EC membership by almost a 2:1 margin.
Tony Benn said, ‘We have had a conference and the decision is clear ... It is very
clear that there now must be a move for the Labour Party to campaign’. The majority
of the Labour Party leadership was strongly for continuing membership, and the
margin of the party vote was not a surprise, since only seven of forty-six trade
unions present at the conference supported EC membership. Prior to the conference, Tony Benn, Secretary of State for
Industry, was one of the senior
the party had decided that if the conference voted by a margin of 2:1 or more in
figures in the No campaign.
favour of a particular option, it would then support that position in the referendum
campaign. Otherwise, the ‘party machine’ would remain neutral. Therefore, the
Labour Party itself did not campaign on either side.
 For a "Yes" vote No official party position For a "No" vote

Scottish National Party

Conservative Party
Plaid Cymru
Liberal Party
Ulster Unionist Party
Social Democratic and
Labour Party Labour Party National Front
Alliance Party Communist Party of
Great Britain
Vanguard Unionist
Progressive Party Democratic Unionist
Party

The campaign, funding and media support

The government distributed pamphlets from the official Yes[14] and No[15] campaigns to every household in Britain, together with its
own pamphlet which argued in support of EC membership[16] .[17] According to this pamphlet, "the most important (issues in the
renegotiation) were FOOD and MONEY and JOBS".

During the campaign, almost the entire mainstream national British press supported the "Yes" campaign. The left-wing Morning Star
was the only notable national daily to back the "No" campaign. Television broadcasts were used by both campaigns, like party
political broadcasts during general elections. They were broadcast simultaneously on all three terrestrial channels:BBC 1, BBC 2 and
ITV. They attracted audiences of up to 20 million viewers. The "Yes" campaign advertisements were thought to be much more
effective, showing their speakers listening to and answering people's concerns, while the "No" campaign's broadcasts featured
speakers reading from anautocue.

The "Yes" campaign enjoyed much more funding, thanks to the support of many British businesses and the Confederation of British
Industry. According to the treasurer of the "Yes" campaign, Alistair McAlpine, "The banks and big industrial companies put in very
large sums of money". At the time, business was "overwhelmingly pro-European",[18] and Harold Wilson met several prominent
industrialists to elicit support. It was common for pro-Europeans to convene across party and ideological lines with businessmen.[18]
John Mills, the national agent of the "No" campaign, recalled: "We were operating on a shoe-string compared to the Rolls Royce
operation on the other side".[19] However, it was also the case that many civil society groups supported the "Yes" campaign,
including the National Farmers Unionand some trade unions.

Much of the "Yes" campaign focused on the credentials of its opponents. According to Alistair McAlpine, "The whole thrust of our
campaign was to depict the anti-Marketeers as unreliable people – dangerous people who would lead you down the wrong path ... It
wasn't so much that it was sensible to stay in, but that anybody who proposed that we came out was off their rocker or virtually
Marxist."[19] Tony Benn controversially claimed there had been "Half a million jobs lost in Britain and a huge increase in food prices
as a direct result of our entry into the Common Market",[18] using his position as Secretary of State for Industry as an authority. His
claims were ridiculed by the "Yes" campaign and ministers; the Daily Mirror labelled Benn the "Minister of Fear", and other
newspapers were similarly derisive. Ultimately, the "No" campaign lacked a popular, moderate figure to play the public leadership
role for their campaign that Jenkins and Wilson fulfilled in the "Yes" campaign.

Counting areas
The referendum was held nationally across all four countries of the United Kingdom as a single majority vote in 68 counting areas
under the provisions of the Referendum Act, for which the then administrative counties of England and Wales and the then newly
formed administrative regions ofScotland were used, with Northern Ireland as a single counting area.

The following table shows the breakdown of the votingareas for the referendum within theUnited Kingdom.

Country Counting areas

Referendum declaration;
United Kingdom
68 counting areas
 Constituent countries Counting areas
England 47 counting areas
Northern Ireland Single counting area
Scotland 12 counting areas
Wales 8 counting areas

Result
Voting in the referendum took place across the United Kingdom on Thursday 5 June
between 07:00 and 22:00 BST. All counting areas started their counts the following day
on Friday 6 June at 09:00 BST, and the final result was announced just before 23:00
BST by the Chief Counting Officer (CCO) Sir Phillip Allen at Earls Court Exhibition
Centre in London, after all 68 counting areas had declared their totals. With a national
turnout of 64% across the United Kingdom, the target to secure a majority for the
winning side was 12,951,598 votes. The result was a decisive "Yes" to continued EC
membership, which won by a huge majority of 8,908,508 votes (34.5%) over those who
had voted "No" to reject continued membership.

In total, over two-thirds of voters supported continued EC membership. 67.2 percent

voted Yes and 32.8 percent voted No. At council level, support for EC membership was
positively correlated with support for the Conservative Party and with average income.
In contrast, poorer areas that supported Labour gave less support to the question.
Approval was well above 60% in almost every council area in England and Wales, with
the strongly Labour-supporting Mid Glamorgan being the exception. Scotland and
Northern Ireland gave less support to the question than the British average. Once the
voting areas had declared, their results were then relayed to Sir Philip Allen, the Chief
Counting Officer, who later declared the final result.
Results by nation.
All the counting areas within the United Kingdom returned large majority votes in
favour of "Yes" except for two Scottish regions, the Shetland Islands and the Western
Isles, which returned majority votes in favour of a "No" vote.

Choice Votes %
Yes 17,378,581 67.23
No 8,470,073 32.77
Valid votes 25,848,654 99.78
Invalid or blank votes 54,540 0.22
Total votes 25,903,194 100.00
Registered voters and turnout 40,086,677 64.67

National referendum results (without spoiled ballots)

Yes: No:
17,378,581 (67.2%) 8,470,073 (32.8%)
▲

Results by United Kingdom constituent countries

 Yes No
Constituent country Electorate Turnout (%) Votes % Votes %
England 33,356,208 64.6% 14,918,009 68.7% 6,812,052 31.3%
Wales 2,011,136 66.7% 869,135 64.8% 472,071 35.2%
Scotland 3,688,799 61.7% 1,332,186 58.4% 948,039 41.6%
Northern Ireland 1,030,534 47.4% 259,251 52.1% 237,911 47.9%

TV coverage
Both the BBC and ITV provided coverage throughout the following day, and the BBC programme was presented by David Dimbleby
and David Butler. There were several programmes throughout the day. Part of the coverage was repeated to mark the 30th
anniversary of the referendum in June 2005, and was also shown to mark the 40th anniversary in June 2015 on the BBC Parliament
channel and was to be shown again to mark the 41st anniversary ahead of the 2016 EU Referendum.[20] 41 years after this
referendum, David Dimbleby would also host the BBC's coverage, as Britain voted to leave the EU.

Reactions and consequences

On Friday 6 June 1975 at 18:30 BST the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, gave his reaction outside 10 Downing Street as counting
continued, although by this point the result was clear:

‘The verdict has been given by a vote with a bigger majority than has been received by any Government in any
general election. Nobody in Britain or the wider world should have any doubt about its meaning. It was a free vote,
without constraint, following a free democratic campaign conducted constructively and without rancour. It means that
fourteen years of national argument are over. It means that all those who have had reservations about Britain’s
commitment should now join wholeheartedly with our partners in Europe, and our friends everywhere to meet the
challenge confronting the whole nation.’

Enoch Powell gave this comment to the result in a newspaper a few days after the referendum:

‘Never again by the necessity of an axiom, will an Englishman live for his country or die for his country: The country
for which people live and die was obsolete and we have abolished it. Or not quite yet. No, not yet. The referendum is
not a “verdict” after which the prisoner is hanged forthwith. It is no more than provisional … This will be so as long
Parliament can alter or undo whatever that or any other Parliament has done. Hence those Golden words in the
Government's Referendum pamphlet: “Our continued membership would depend on the continuing assent of
Parliament”.’

Roy Jenkins said ‘It puts the uncertainty behind us. It commits Britain to Europe; it commits us to playing an active, constructive and
enthusiastic role in it’. Tony Benn said, ‘When the British people speak, everyone, including members of Parliament, should tremble
before their decision and that's certainly the spirit with which I accept the result of the referendum’.[21] Jenkins was heavily rewarded
for successfully leading the campaign for Britain to remain a member of the European Communities when two years later he became
the first and to date only British politician to hold the post of President of the European Commission, which he held for four years
from 1977-81.

The result strengthened Harold Wilson's tactical position, by securing a further post-election public expression of support for his
policies. According to Cook and Francis (1979), ‘The left of his party had been appeased by the holding of a referendum, the right by
its result’.[3] Following the result, the Labour Party and British trade unions themselves joined European institutions, such as the
Socialist Group in the European Parliament, to which they had been reluctant to commit before public approval of EC membership.
In the House of Commons, the issue of Europe had been effectively settled for two years, until the debate about direct elections to the
European Parliament began in 1977.

The result went on to provide a major pro-European mandate to politicians, particularly in the UK Parliament, for the next forty-one
years until the 2016 EU membership referendum was held on Thursday 23 June 2016, when the UK voted by 51.9% to 48.1% to
leave the European Union. On that occasion the relative difference of enthusiasm for membership was reversed, with England and
Wales voting to leave, whilst Scotland, London and Northern Ireland voted to stay
.

Thirty-year rule
The question of sovereignty was discussed in an internal document of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO 30/1048) before
the European Communities Act 1972, but was not available to the public until January 2002 under the
thirty-year rule. Among "Areas
of policy" listed "in which parliamentary freedom to legislate will be affected by entry into the European Communities" were:
Customs duties, agriculture, free movement of labour, services and capital, transport, and social security for migrant workers. The
document concluded (paragraph 26) that it was advisable to put the considerations of influence and power before those of formal
sovereignty.[22]

See also
Accession of the United Kingdom to the European
Communities
Treaty of Accession 1972
European Communities Act 1972
Brexit
Referendums in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
Withdrawal from the European Union
United Kingdom European Union membership
referendum, 2016

Further reading
Comparison of results in 1975 and 2016
Butler, D and Kitzinger U. The 1975 Referendum,
Palgrave Macmillan UK London and New Y ork, 1996. referendums
Milward, A. ''The Rise and Fall of a National Strategy: The
UK and The European Community: Volume 1, Routledge
London and New York, 2002, (republished 2012).
Wall, S. The Official History of Britain and the European Community
, Volume II: From Rejection to Referendum,
1963-1975, Routledge London and New York, 2013.

References
1. The Labour Party (1974).Britain will win with Labour: Labour Party manifesto, October 1974(http://www.politicsreso
urces.net/area/uk/man/lab74oct.htm). Retrieved 26 November 2009.
2. http://www.harvard-digital.co.uk/euro/pamphlet.htm
3. Cook, Chris; Francis, Mary (1979).The first European elections: A handbook and guide
. London: Macmillan Press.
ISBN 0-333-26575-0.
4. "European Community"(http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1975/mar/18/european-community#column_
1456). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 18 March 1975. col. 1456–1480.
5. Crowson, Nicholas J. (2007-01-01).The Conservative Party and European integration since 1945 at the heart of
Europe? (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/493677870). Routledge. p. 90. ISBN 9780415400220. OCLC 493677870 (htt
ps://www.worldcat.org/oclc/493677870).
 6. http://www.conservativemanifesto.com/1970/1970-conservative-manifesto.shtml
7. The Labour Party (1974).Let us work together: Labour's way out of the crisis: Labour Party manifesto, February
1974 (http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab74feb.htm). Retrieved 26 November 2009.
8. Williamson, Adrian (5 May 2015)."The case for Brexit: lessons from the 1960s and 1970s"(http://www.historyandpoli
cy.org/policy-papers/papers/the-case-for-brexit-lessons-from-1960s-and-1970s). History & Policy. History & Policy.
Retrieved 13 July 2016.
9. Bogdanor, Vernon (2009). The New British Constitution. Oxford: Hart Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84113-671-4.
10. Gay, Oonagh; Foster, David (25 November 2009)."Thresholds in Referendums"(http://researchbriefings.parliament.
uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN02809). London: House of Commons Library. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
11. The seven Common Market opponents in the Cabinet wereMichael Foot (Employment), Tony Benn (Industry), Peter
Shore (Trade), Barbara Castle (Social Services), Eric Varley (Energy), William Ross (Scotland) and John Silkin
(Planning and Local Government).
12. "Conservatives favor remaining in market"(https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M7QsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lQoEAA
AAIBAJ&pg=2825%2C608551). Wilmington Morning Star. UPI. 4 June 1975. p. 5. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
13. Butler, David; Kitzinger, Uwe (1996). The 1975 referendum (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/958137188). Macmillan
Press. pp. 178, 194. ISBN 9780333662908. OCLC 958137188 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/958137188).
14. "Why you should vote "Yes" | LSE Digital Library" (https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/objects/lse:fuv593baz).
digital.library.lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
15. "Why you should vote no | LSE Digital Library"(https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/objects/lse:cez792qaf).
digital.library.lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
16. "Britain's new deal in Europe | LSE Digital Library"(https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/objects/lse:fug282yox).
digital.library.lse.ac.uk. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
17. HM Government (1975).Britain's new deal in Europe(http://www.harvard-digital.co.uk/euro/pamphlet.htm).
Retrieved 26 November 2009.
18. Cockerell, Michael (4 June 2005). "How we were talked into joining Europe"(http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politic
s/article224339.ece). The Independent. London. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
19. Cockerell, Michael (4 June 2005). "How Britain first fell for Europe"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4609131.stm). BBC
News. London. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
20. "BBC One London - 6 June 1975 - BBC Genome"(http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1975-06-0
6.stm). Genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
21. "1975: UK embraces Europe in referendum"(http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_249900
0/2499297.stm). BBC on This Day. London. 6 June 1975. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
22. FCO 30/1048, Legal and constitutional implications of UK entry into EEC(open from 1 January 2002.[1] (http://disco
very.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11018818)

External links
Examples of campaigning leaflets used during the 1975 referendum campaign
Full text of the accession act
Transcript of government pamphlet advocating to vote to stay in the EEC
Article "Jan-Henrik Meyer, The 1975 referendum on Britain's continued membership in the EEC"on CVCE website
BBC coverage of the Referendumon YouTube
Adrian Williamson, The case for Brexit: lessons from the 1960s and 1970s, History and Policy (2015).
Article "Andrew Glencross (2015), Looking Back to Look Forward: 40 ears
Y of Referendum Debate in Britain"
https://brexitunderstood.com/1975-referendum/

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