The question of the most appropriate form the relationship Britain should have with the institutions and countries of the European Union (EU) has been one of the most explosive in British politics since the Second World War. Disputes and tensions over British European policy have divided Cabinets split parties brought down leaders and left the public in a state of confusion and even hostility to matters European. One’s stance on whether or not Britain is a ‘European’ country – and therefore what part Britain can and should play in the EU – is basically down to a preference for one of two main stories on offer. The first story pits Britain eternally against the Continent in geographic political economic and ideological terms. This story tells of Britain’s psychological remoteness from mainland Europe evidenced by its preference for nurturing first of all its global role through its Empire/Commonwealth and latterly the ‘special relationship’ with the United States. Europe in this story features at best as an optional prop to Britain’s great power status and at worst as a hindrance to the achievement of just that destiny.
