Harold Wilson and European integration. Britain’s second application to join the EEC

Book abstract:

This book attempts to explain the controversies surrounding Harold Wilson's application to join the European Economic Community (EEC), despite huge political problems after the April 1966 election. In order to do so, it uses official record documents, hitherto unseen, from the Public Record Office. The contributors suggest that there were far more factors involved in the bid than Wilson's need simply to hold his cabinet and Parliamentary Labour Party together, not the least being Britain's usual 'economic' apprehensions towards Europe and the problem of its world role.

After the introduction, which provides a discussion of the historiography dealing with Harold Wilson and the EEC, the book is divided into two parts: The Domestic Context and The External Context. Contributors to each part explore issues as diverse, respectively, as public opinion on The Labour Party and the 'Second Try' in 1967, the Conservative position, technological co-operation in Wilson's strategy, tensions in Anglo-French relations over the second bid, the problem of De Gaulle, the crises in the Commonwealth and the position of Ireland.

The book also contains appendices, bibliography and index.

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