663. Britain in the 70s: The Brexit That Never Was (Part 2)
This episode examines Britain in 1975, focusing on Harold Wilson's political struggles with a near-impossible economic crisis featuring 25% inflation, and the first British referendum on EEC membership. The hosts trace the history of Britain's ambivalent relationship with Europe, the campaigns for and against staying in, and the decisive 67% vote to remain.
Summary
The episode opens with a discussion of Fawlty Towers, specifically the 'Germans' episode from October 1975, using it as a cultural lens to examine mid-1970s Britain. The hosts argue that Basil Fawlty embodies the frustrated middle-class conservative of the era — obsessed with class, nostalgic about the war, and prone to blaming Harold Wilson for everything that goes wrong.
The hosts then provide a detailed portrait of Harold Wilson at this stage of his career. Despite being a brilliant political operator who won four out of five elections, Wilson in 1974-76 appears weary, often ill, and drinking heavily — sometimes four or five glasses of brandy at lunch before Commons appearances. His personal life is chaotic, caught between his poetry-loving wife Mary, his domineering political secretary Marcia Williams (who claims to have had an affair with him and threatens to 'destroy him' via the Daily Mail), and a rumoured relationship with his deputy press secretary Janet Hewlett-Davis. His aides reportedly even entertained the idea of having his doctor 'dispose' of Marcia Williams.
The economic backdrop is severe: Ted Heath's inflationary policies combined with the 1973 oil shock sent inflation hurtling toward 25%. Wilson's Chancellor Denis Healey had spent recklessly in 1974, increasing public spending by 35% in cash terms. The top income tax rate stood at 83%, and 98% on investment income, yet borrowing still spiralled. The social contract with trade unions — whereby the government granted sweeping employment rights in exchange for wage restraint — was failing because union leaders couldn't control their members in a competitive, inflationary environment. Pay increases of 30-35% were commonplace across industries.
The episode then turns to Britain's history with Europe. The hosts explain why Britain didn't join the EEC at its founding in 1957: it still had an empire, its political horizons were global and Atlantic, the Labour left viewed Europe as a capitalist Christian Democrat plot, and the public simply didn't identify as continental Europeans. Harold Macmillan's 1961 application and Wilson's 1967 attempt were both vetoed by de Gaulle. Ted Heath, a genuine Europhile who had shaken hands with Himmler at Nuremberg and fought in WWII, finally secured British membership in January 1973 — but public enthusiasm was minimal, and surveys showed most people quickly regretted joining.
With his party deeply split on Europe, Wilson devised a classic piece of political manoeuvring: he would renegotiate Britain's terms and put the result to a referendum — the first in British history. The renegotiation produced a deal that was, in substance, nearly identical to Heath's terms. The Yes campaign was well-funded (£1.5 million, ten times the No campaign's budget), backed by major corporations like Shell, Ford, and IBM, and supported by the Conservative Party under a newly-minted Margaret Thatcher — who wore a jumper covered in European flags and praised Ted Heath effusively at press conferences despite his open contempt for her.
The No campaign was a chaotic coalition of far-left, far-right, and nationalist groups, led by the politically toxic trio of Enoch Powell, Michael Foot, and Tony Benn. Benn is described in detail: a passionate, evangelical socialist who had been born again into radical left-wing politics after 1970, pushing for workers' control, nationalisation of the top 25 companies, and opposition to Europe as a capitalist cartel. His industrial schemes — including a factory making both car radiators and orange juice — were ridiculed even by his own colleagues. His presence as the chief Leave spokesman actively drove voters toward the Yes side.
On June 5, 1975, 67% of voters chose to remain in the European Community on a 65% turnout. The most pro-European areas were the wealthiest Conservative shires; Scotland and Northern Ireland were the most Eurosceptic — a notable contrast with 2016. The press celebrated the result. Tony Benn accepted the verdict graciously with no calls for a second referendum, then watched Wilson demote him from Industry to Energy. But the referendum was merely a 'sideshow mouse,' as a Sun cartoon captured it — behind Wilson, the tiger of economic crisis still loomed, with inflation near 30% and the pound beginning to slide. The episode ends on a cliffhanger: six weeks after the referendum, Wilson tells his press chief he has made a dramatic decision — a bombshell that will transform British politics.
Key Insights
- The hosts argue that Fawlty Towers, specifically the 'Germans' episode, functions as a precise cultural document of mid-1970s Britain, with Basil's frustrated middle-class conservatism and war obsession reflecting the national mood under Wilson.
- The hosts contend that Harold Wilson by 1975 was visibly diminished — drinking four or five brandies at lunch, often slurring at the dispatch box, and possibly already experiencing early signs of the dementia that would take hold in the early 1980s.
- Wilson's political secretary Marcia Williams is portrayed as exercising an almost inexplicable psychological hold over him, reportedly threatening to 'destroy him' via the Daily Mail, to the point where his own aides seriously entertained the idea of having her killed.
- The hosts argue that Britain joined the EEC not out of enthusiasm but out of desperation — having run out of other options after the empire collapsed and the economy underperformed compared to continental rivals, making the decision fundamentally grudging rather than principled.
- The hosts note a striking paradox: the British public in 1975 was broadly Eurosceptic before and after the referendum, yet voted 67% to remain — explained primarily by the economic crisis making the status quo feel safer than any change.
- The Yes campaign outspent the No campaign ten to one (£1.5 million vs £133,000, of which only £9,000 was privately raised), and was backed unanimously by big business, giving the left's framing of Europe as a 'capitalist plot' a certain ironic validity.
- Margaret Thatcher in 1975 was an active and enthusiastic campaigner for Remain, wearing a jumper covered in European flags and publicly praising Ted Heath — a stark contrast with her later Euroscepticism that the hosts say must make modern Tory Eurosceptics want to 'explode.'
- Tony Benn is described as embodying a paradox noted universally by his colleagues: personally courteous, kind, and charming, yet simultaneously regarded as disloyal, narcissistic, hypocritical, and politically dangerous — both things held simultaneously.
- The hosts argue that the standard of political debate in the 1975 referendum was incomparably higher than in 2016, attributing the decline to changes in the media ecosystem, shorter audience attention spans, and a lower calibre of politicians entering public life.
- The social contract between Wilson's government and the trade unions is described as structurally undeliverable, because union leaders were under competitive pressure from their own members and from rival unions, creating a ratchet effect of escalating pay demands regardless of political goodwill.
- Harold Wilson's 1975 European renegotiation is described as substantively identical to Ted Heath's original deal with only superficial differences — the 'renegotiation and referendum' strategy being directly paralleled to David Cameron's identical approach in 2016.
- The hosts note that in 1975, Scotland and Northern Ireland were the most Eurosceptic parts of the UK — the precise opposite of their positions in 2016 — illustrating how dramatically regional political identities around Europe shifted over four decades.
Topics
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