Post-War Initiatives The United Kingdom has had a significantly different history and experience to that of its close European neighbours. In contrast to the latter’s experience in the First and Second World War, it ...

Economic Crisis After World War II, the UK GDP per capita exceeded that of France and West Germany. The period from the early 1950s to the mid-1970s saw very high economic growth throughout the Western world in ...

Mrs. Thatcher’s First Goevernment Immediately on election as prime minister, Margaret Thatcher had commenced a campaign to reduce the UK contribution to the EEC budget. The common agricultural policy accounted ...

Labour Switches to Supporting EU The Labour Party converted to a pro-European policy during the 1990s under the leadership of Neil Kinnock and then John Smith. Neil Kinnock favoured membership of the EEC and later ...

Conservative and opposition parties The Conservative party toyed with euro scepticism during its 13 years in opposition from 1997 and 2010. William Hague was elected leader in 1997 at the age of 36, defeating ...

The UK Prime Minister David Cameron promised in January 2013 that should the Conservative Party  win the 2015 general election, that the UK government would  negotiate more favourable terms for continuing membership ...