Its notable that, in all of this debate, about membership of the Common Market those in favour were, again, the majority of the Conservative Party, as well as of the Labour Party, and Liberals. Those opposed were, again, the representatives of the petty-bourgeoisie be they the National Front, or the Powellites in the Conservative Party; the Communist Party, which had made its Popular Front policy of tailing the petty-bourgeoisie the cornerstone of its politics, and consistent with its reactionary nationalist concept of “Socialism In One Country”, and the Bennites, in the Labour Party, that pursued a similar course, consistent with their own statist and nationalist politics. The revolutionary socialist Left, at that time, rejected that reactionary, nationalist opposition to the EEC, and argued an abstentionist position based on the fact that the problem was capitalism, whether British or European. Only later, in the 1970's, during the 1975 Referendum campaign, did sections of that Left capitulate, as they feared being marginalised amongst the industrial militants, and Labour Left.
Its notable that, in the referendum, their was a 2:1 majority to remain in the EEC, and, today, having seen the idiocy and failure of Brexit, there, is, again, a 2:1 majority in favour of rejoining, reflecting the fact that, although the petty-bourgeoisie has grown by 50%, since the 1980's, and they were able to utilise that inside the Tory Party, and in the 2016 Referendum, they still only account for around 30% of the electorate, and, typical of that class, they are themselves heterogeneous, and riven with contradictions. Its why they never had an electoral majority, in any parliamentary election for Brexit.
Joining the EEC, in 1973, did not mean that the problems of British capitalism were ended, and certainly not that the problems of British workers were ended. But, it did mean that the specific problems of British capital, as a relatively declining economy, outside the EEC, were ameliorated. And, as part of the EEC, it meant that the potential of the British labour movement, to unite with the labour movement across the EEC, to wage a struggle that would address the problems of the working-class, was opened up. Unfortunately, large sections of the British labour movement, remained trapped in that old, Little Englander, nationalist mindset for another ten years or so, and, indeed, many, like Corbyn, the Communist Party and so on, never escaped it. Also, unfortunately, the entry of Britain into the EEC, came at the time when that post-war period of prosperity and boom, that made possible the growth of social-democracy, itself came to an end.
The rational development of social-democracy, in the 1970's, was a continued planning and regulation of the economy, on a larger scale, including the incorporation of the labour movement in that process. The national planning bodies already did that, by having representatives of both the TUC and CBI etc. The reflection of that in the realm of ideas, came in the form of the development of Eurocommunism, as Stalinist parties were transformed into simple social-democratic parties. Usually, the Eurcommunists were aligned with Liberals, and many made a natural progression into the camp of Blairism. The rationale of Eurocommunism, as it sank into this social-democratic corporatism, was the acceptance that, if the capitalist state was to plan economic activity, that included bureaucratic planning of prices and wages, as with the Social Contract, but also of immigration. It fitted the Stalinist, Popular Front idea of tailing the bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeoisie, and, consequently of nationalism.
At the level of large companies, the ideas of “profit sharing” were popularised, which, of course, ties workers and their unions into a continued acceptance in managing their own exploitation. The systematisation of those ideas came in the form of the Alternative Economic Strategy, and, as the Labour Government set up the National Enterprise Board, included ideas of “Planning Agreements” with firms seeking government support and so on.
Its notable that Thatcher did not abolish the NEB, when she became Prime Minister, but combined it with the NRDC, to form the British Technology Group. Also, Thatcher did not smash the unions, but created a new tier of full-time lay bureaucrats (convenors and so on) that separated the shop stewards from the members, which had been the strength of workplace organisation since the 1950's. They facilitated the creation of single union agreements, with the large businesses.
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