1970-79 FOREIGN POLICY

Heath and Europe

Edward heath was a passionately pro European

During the 1970 election

Heath declared he would not take Britain into the EEC membership without the 'full hearted consent' of parliament and people

As prime minister from 1970

Heath quickly reopened negotiations with the EEC

Britain joins EEC

January 1973

A controversy regarding joining the EEC is that

No referendum was held, going against what Heath said earlier during the time of the general election

The change in leadership in France was another factor as to how Britain joined the EEC

the death of De Gaulle led to a new leader of France (Pompidou) which shared the sentiment of Britain needing to be in the EEC

The Labour Government and the EEC

• the labour manifesto promised it would renegotiate Heaths terms of membership and put the issue to the public

• this move pleased and displeased people

• it allowed Wilson to avoid the party becoming visibly split over the question in the middle of an election

the Wilson government renegotiated that the terms were greatly improved

They were changed little in reality

when the labour government came back in 1974

Wilsons main aim was party unity. this was demonstrated in the referendum campaign of 1975.

by 1975 voter support for staying in the EEC

was much stronger than before

the country was in an economic mess before

Britain needed to be in for its economic survival

the Yes campaign was well financed by business supporters

a survey found in 1975 found that of 419 company chairmen, only 4 wanted to leave the EEC

the politicians at the heart of the YES campaign

they were seen as more moderate and in touch with mainstream opinion

YES campaign members

Thatcher, Edward Heath, Roy Jenkins and Jeremy Thorpe

NO campaigners

Tony Benn, Enoch Powell, Michael foot and Barbara castle

The No campaigners fell into Two categories

• those who argued it would be bad for British workers (Barbara Castle and Michael foot)

• those who argued on the basis that Britain would lose its independence (Tony Benn and enoch Powell)

there was a lack of unity in the NO campaign

Tony Benn refused to appear on the same platform as Enoch Powell

the YES campaign also received support from

The Press

the result was decisive

17 million (68.3%) votes YES in July 1975; 8 million (32.7%) voted NO

Britains membership was confirmed

the margin of victory was more than two to one

Heath was the prime minister who got us into Europe

Europe was his number one foreign policy objective

The special relationship under Heath

Heath rejected attempts by the USAs secretary of state Henry Kissinger to use Britain as a link with Europe

Heath insisted that the USA should negotiate with the European community as a whole

rather than using Britain as a go between

Niklas Rossbach argues that

Heath and Nixon tried to convert the Anglo-American special relationship into a European-American one

Heath was clear that

'our job and Europes job is to look after our own interests because what the Americans do is look after their interests'

Heath got on personally with President Nixon

he was more forthright in his support for the United States policy in Vietnam than Harold Wilson had been

Relations between Britain and the US worsened in October 1973

during the Yom Kippur war. The US wanted to use NATO bases in Europe for an airlift of supplies to Israel. Most European states including Britain refused permission. this was because they feared supplies of oil from Middle East would be put at risk.

this put Anglo-American relations under great strain

Labour and the USA

Wilson and Callaghan were still both keen on the Atlantic alliance

Callaghan forged a strong relationship with Kissinger

at the 1979 Guadeloupe conference he successfully appealed to president Carter in the help of nuclear weapons.

Carter agreed that Britain could buy Trident nuclear weapons from the US at an affordable rate to replace the Polaris system

the Labour government completed the withdrawal from the East of Suez

that had been started in the 1960s despite US disquiet

Britain and the US both shared a similar foreign policy

this was reducing the spread of communism, this is a reason why they continued to work together despite disagreements

Attitudes to USSR

during the 70s, politicians took steps to ease the tensions of the Cold War, this period was known as detente:

• still underlying tensions over USSR influence in Eastern Europe e.g. Georgi Markov Affair: a Bulgarian who defected to the West in 1969 and outspoken in criticism of Bulgarian communist regime. He was assassinated in London in 1978 by a poisonous pellet fired from an umbrella, and the KGB were suspected but never proven guilty.

• in 1972 the strategic arms limitations talks (salt) began, this led to an anti ballistic missile treaty and caps on number of weapons each side could develop

• in 1975 the UK was among the participants at the conference on security and cooperation in Europe that led to the Helsinki final act

Attitudes to china

• relationship strained until the 70s

• July 1971: Nixon announced thawing relations and visited China in 1972 where he held meeting with Mao Zedong (Chinese leader).

• In March 1972, Britain followed, agreeing a change a ambassadors with China.

• Heath given the title of 'People's Friend Envoy', highest possible honour form the Chinese government given to a foreigner.

• By 1979, Premier Hua Guofeng visited Britain in his European tour, the first visit by a Chinese leader since the communist revolution.