Don’t blame the worse-off for Brexit. Plenty of Britain’s ‘liberal elite’ backed it too

Brexit can’t simply be written off as a protest vote by worse-off, older and less educated voters, writes Piers Ludlow. Plenty of the so-called ‘liberal metropolitan elite’ – politicians like Boris Johnson, business leaders and journalists – also called for Britain to leave the EU. The dwindling number of pro-Europeans testifies to growing disillusionment with the European Union among the UK political elite

Hopes of a softer Brexit are probably in vain – though I’d love to be proved wrong

Are we heading for a softer Brexit after the Conservatives’ electoral setback? Piers Ludlow doubts it. There is little to suggest voters were warning Theresa May off a hard Brexit. The Cabinet reshuffle is unlikely to tip the balance, and even if she returns from Brussels with a softer deal it is far from clear that Labour would back it

Introduction: writing a supranational history of the EEC

A new and detailed study of the European Community's development between 1963 and 1969, with a special focus on the struggle between France and its EC partners over the purpose, structure and membership of the emerging European Community. On all three, French President Charles de Gaulle held divergent views from those of his fellow leaders. The six years in question were hence marked by a succession of confrontations over what the Community did, the way in which it functioned, and the question of whether new members (notably Britain) should be allowed to enter. Despite these multiple crises, however, the six founding members continued to press on with their joint experiment, demonstrating a surprisingly firm commitment to cooperation with each other. The period thus highlights both the strengths and the weaknesses of the early Community and highlights the origins of many of the structures and procedures that have survived until the current day

The discomforts of life on the edge: Britain and Europe, 1963-1975

The publication of Stephen Wall's second volume of The official history of Britain and the European Community allows us to revisit a period when Britain found itself perched uncomfortably on the edge of the EEC. The period covered, between 1963 and 1975, includes the failure of Britain's first attempt to accede to the EEC in 1963, the second Labour-led application of 1967 which like its predecessor was thwarted by a veto from General Charles de Gaulle, the revival of Britain's second application once de Gaulle had left power, the membership negotiations of 1970–1, the struggle to secure parliamentary ratification of the European Communities bill, Britain's first year in the European Community and the Labour-inspired renegotiation of British membership in 1974, before ending with the 1975 referendum on British membership which resulted in a seemingly decisive popular vote in favour of remaining within the EEC. Throughout the emphasis is on the high politics of entry, with Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath playing the starring roles—and with de Gaulle cast as the lead villain

Britain’s liberal elite can’t wash their hands of Brexit

The Brexit vote has been linked by some commentators to disaffection among those who perceive themselves to be ‘losers’ from the process of globalisation. Piers Ludlow discusses the tendency of Britain’s liberal elite to distance themselves from the outcome of the referendum, noting that in reality they played a far more prominent role in shaping the final result than has been recognised

More than just a Single Market: European integration, peace and security in the 1980s

Economics was central to Europe’s problems in the early 1980s and its successes after 1985. But to view the European Community solely in this manner disregards the enduring importance of the quest for European peace. European leaders used the integration process as a mechanism to influence East–West relations and the Middle East. Peace rhetoric and symbolism sustained the core Franco-German partnership. European integration was crucial to the continent’s ability to peacefully absorb a huge shock in the form of German unification. And the Community’s role in exporting democracy, first to southern Europe, then to Eastern Europe, confirmed that integration was about more than just the Single Market

Michael Gove’s problem is that a single market is more than just a tariff-free zone

One of the key ideas in Michael Gove’s recent, much-publicised Brexit speech was that the UK could rely on membership of a European free trade zone. This idea constitutes a bizarre historical throwback to the early years of Britain’s relationship with what was then called the European Economic Community, or Common Market. But the relevance of his attempt to dismiss the economic case for continued EU membership in a 21st century context is highly questionable, writes Piers Ludlow

Britain needs friends in the post-Brexit era. Alienating EU allies would be counter-productive

Amid the posturing about trade, the fact that Britain no longer has a voice in the EU has gone largely unremarked. N Piers Ludlow (LSE) warns that alienating European allies by talking tough risks harming the UK's soft power and long-term interests