ABSTRACT
The economic success of the six-nation European Economic Community, combined with the increasingly European focus of the UK's external trade, led policymakers in Britain to press for membership of what was then regarded as an essentially economic club. With the loss of Empire and the prospect of Britain's experiencing a diminishing role in third world affairs, it was recognised in the late 1950s that the country's global position might be enhanced through greater involvement with 'Europe'. Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party was becoming increasingly convinced that the EC should be allowed to develop only as an association of sovereign states: for the Eurosceptics, all key decisions should remain within the purview of national governments and their representatives on the European Council. The outcome of Cameron's ill-thought-through gamble was, of course, a clear decision by the British people to leave the EU. For pessimists, the problems this decision has engendered are enormous.
