Reluctant European av Stephen (former member of the British Diplomatic Service former member of the British Diplomatic Service) Wall

429,-

Kjøp

In 2016, the voters of the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union. The majority for ''Leave'' was small. Yet, in more than 40 years of EU membership, the British had never been wholeheartedly content. In the 1950s, governments preferred the Commonwealth to the Common Market. In the 1960s, successive Conservative and Labour administrations applied to join the European Community because it was a surprising success, whilst the UK''s post-war policies had failed. But the British were turned down by the French. When the UK did join, more than 10 years after first asking, it joined a club whose rules had been made by others and which it did not much like. At one time or another, Labour and Conservative were at war with each other and internally. In 1975, the Labour government held a referendum on whether the UK should stay in. Two thirds of voters decided to do so. But the wounds did not heal. Europe remained ''them'', ''not ''us''. The UK was on the front foot in proposing refor