Britain & Europe: From EEC to Brexit
From Empire to Europe, 1945-2020
As Britain dismantled its empire (Lesson 12), it had to decide what kind of country it would be next. Three answers were offered. The first was the United States: post-war Britain leaned heavily on the ‘special relationship’. The second was the Commonwealth (Lesson 13). The third — for most of the period covered here — was Europe. Britain joined the EEC in 1973, voted to remain in 1975, voted to leave the European Union in 2016 and finally departed on 31 January 2020. Across that 47-year membership, around 5 million Europeans came to live in Britain — the largest sustained inflow in modern British history. The Brexit debate was, more than anything else, a debate about that migration.
Britain joined the EEC on 1 January 1973 under Edward Heath. A 1975 referendum voted 67% to remain. The 23 June 2016 referendum voted 52% to leave the European Union; Britain formally left on 31 January 2020.
Reconstruction and the Marshall Plan
The Second World War left Britain bankrupt. The 1945 Anglo-American loan and the 1948 Marshall Plan gave Britain $2.7 billion in US aid — more than any other European country — on condition of free-trade reform and a commitment to European reconstruction. The aid eased the dollar shortage while the Attlee government built the welfare state: the NHS opened on 5 July 1948, a fortnight after the Empire Windrush docked. Rationing, however, continued until 1954. By the time France, West Germany, Italy and the Benelux countries founded the EEC in 1957, Britain had chosen to stay outside — preferring to bet on the Commonwealth and the ‘special relationship’.
In Twice, Out Once: Britain’s European Path 1961-1975
By 1961 it was clear that the EEC was outperforming Britain economically. Macmillan applied in 1961 and Wilson applied again in 1967; Charles de Gaulle vetoed both bids (1963 and 1967), distrusting British loyalty to the United States. Heath finally negotiated entry in 1972, and Britain joined on 1 January 1973. The Wilson Labour government held a confirmatory referendum in 1975. The choice was ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on staying in. The campaign cut across party lines — Wilson’s Cabinet split — and produced a 67% to 33% vote to remain.
The EEC was always a product of the Cold War. It tied Western Europe together politically and economically, with NATO providing the military shield. The 1989-1990 fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union changed the strategic logic. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty turned the EEC into the European Union, with deeper political integration, a single currency project (which Britain opted out of in 1992), and a new commitment to enlargement eastward. The 2004 enlargement — ten new member states, mainly post-Communist Eastern Europe — was a Cold-War-ending project that would later become a Brexit issue.
2004 A8 Migration: Free Movement and the British Choice
In 2004 the EU admitted ten new countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus. EU treaties allowed older member states to apply transitional restrictions on free movement of workers from the eight Eastern European entrants (the ‘A8’). Most older members imposed seven-year limits. Britain, Ireland and Sweden chose not to. The Blair government’s estimate was that around 13,000 East Europeans a year would come.
The actual number was vastly larger. Polish arrivals after 2004 ran into the hundreds of thousands, alongside large numbers of Lithuanians, Romanians (after 2007), Bulgarians and Hungarians. By the 2011 census, Polish was the second most-spoken language in England after English, and Poland was the second most common country of birth after India. The Polish-born population later peaked at close to one million. The migration was concentrated in agriculture, hospitality, construction, transport and food processing — sectors which had become structurally dependent on East European labour by the time of the 2016 referendum.
Brexit, 2016-2020
David Cameron called the Brexit referendum to settle a long-running Conservative Party split. The 23 June 2016 vote went 52%-48% in favour of leaving. Migration was central to the Leave campaign — Vote Leave’s ‘Take Back Control’ slogan was understood, above all, as taking control of immigration. In polling straight after the vote, Leave voters put taking decisions in the UK first (49%) and control of immigration second (33%). Britain formally left the EU on 31 January 2020 and ended free movement on 31 December 2020. New points-based rules treated EU and non-EU migrants alike on a salary and skills basis.
The actual effect on migration numbers was paradoxical. Net migration fell briefly during the pandemic but reached record highs of 906,000 in the year to mid-2023 — nearly three times the peak under free movement — driven by a global recruitment drive for the NHS and care sector and by visa schemes for Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) (over 192,000 by 2024) and for Ukrainians fleeing the 2022 Russian invasion. The Brexit migration debate had been less about numbers than about who got to set them.
European migration is only part of the story. Since 1990 Britain has received Somali, Iraqi, Kosovar, Afghan, Syrian and Ukrainian refugees from war zones; Hong Kongers under the BN(O) visa from 2021; Indian, Nigerian and Filipino health and care workers; Chinese students who account for nearly a quarter of international university enrolments. By 2023 around 14% of UK residents were born abroad — up from 8% in 2001 and 4% in 1951. The thematic study’s opening question — ‘how has Britain’s identity been shaped by interaction with the wider world?’ — reaches into present-day demographics in a way no previous chapter does.
The 2004 EU enlargement opened free movement to eight Eastern European countries. By 2011 Poland was Britain’s second most common country of birth after India; the Polish-born population later peaked near one million. Free movement ended on 31 December 2020 after the 2016 Brexit referendum.