Nick Comfort, who reported on the 1975 referendum for The Daily Telegraph, reviews Yes to Europe! by Robert Saunders (CUP)
Was our 1975 referendum decision to stay in the European Economic Community inevitable, or could it have gone the other way and saved us four decades of argument, culminating in a vote to come out? With extricating ourselves from the European Union proving tougher than the 51.9 per cent of us who voted Leave perhaps expected, it’s a question worth asking.
Edward Heath took us into Europe at the start of 1973, having won an election in which it was not really an issue. Prior to joining, there was no vote except in Parliament, no campaign, no snappy slogans. A year later,...