Europe and the Decline of Social Democracy in Britain: From Attlee to Brexit - by Adrian Williamson (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book explores Britain's gradual disenchantment with both social democracy and the EEC/EU, culminating in the 2016 vote for Brexit. It offers a much-needed historical perspective to the current political crisis in Britain.

Book Synopsis

2020 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award Winner

This book explores Britain's gradual disenchantment with both social democracy and the EEC/EU, culminating in the 2016 vote for Brexit. It offers a much-needed historical perspective to the current political crisis in Britain.

Between about 1957 and 1979, British governments pursued policies loosely based on social democracy, with a strong commitment to full employment and egalitarianism. At this time, there was almost unlimited enthusiasm on the Right of British politics for membership of the EEC. The real debate was within the British Left, and the dividing line was between socialists and social democrats. The former wished to march on towards the promised land of real socialism; the latter were broadly content with the status quo. 1975, when the nation voted by 2 to 1 to stay in the EEC, was a triumph for those who had always been passionate supporters of the European project. It was also the high water mark of the UK's commitment to social democracy. Full employment remained the central goal of macro-economic strategy, and the nation's income and wealth were more evenly distributed than ever before or since.

Since the late 1970s, social democracy in the UK has been in continuous retreat. For the Conservatives, this retreat has been headlong since the rise of Thatcherism in the mid-1970s. Under New Labour, a viable alternative model to Thatcherism was never identified. This mixture of metropolitan social liberalism and freewheeling, finance-based capitalism came unstuck in the crisis of 2007-9. The ostensibly pro-European forces thus came into the 2016 referendum campaign in a very weak state. Tories were, at best, unenthusiastic and many were hostile. Eurosceptic socialists had taken back control of Labour. The forces of social democracy, triumphant in 1975, were beleaguered. It is perhaps not surprising that Remain lost.

This book explores the nation's gradual disenchantment with both social democracy and the EEC/EU, culminating in the 2016 vote for Brexit. It tells the story of the declining fortunes of these two intertwined concepts, for which no one has yet devised any plausible successor project.

ADRIAN WILLIAMSON is a QC and practicing barrister at Keating Chambers, London, an Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the author of Conservative Economic Policymaking and the Birth of Thatcherism, 1964-1979 (Palgrave, 2015).

Review Quotes

'The slow but steady undermining of social democracy is the key to any understanding of Brexit. The welfare state gave people a reasonable expectation of a better and more secure future. Without it, they were susceptible to distorted yearnings for a past that never was. Adrian Williamson's book is a richly illuminating account of the connection between the fall of social democracy and the rise of Brexit. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to go beyond the Westminster games and understand the deep causes of the current crisis.' FINTAN O'TOOLE (Columnist at the Irish Times and author of Heroic Failure: Brexit and the Politics of Pain)-- "."

The June 2016 referendum that led to Brexit-the UK's withdrawal from the EU-resulted in a narrow 52 percent victory for the 'Leave' contingent, despite expectations that the 'Remain' faction would carry the decision. According to this excellent account by Williamson, the unexpected result was a product of the decline of Britain's post-WW II social democracy . . . Highly recommended.-- "CHOICE"

Williamson's book deserves praise for its intriguing narrative, sharp writing style, and solid structure. Unlike too much academic literature on this topic, it is accessible to the general public and offers a lucid, up-to-date synthesis of the main British parties' evolving views on European integration from which readers unfamiliar with the subject will certainly learn a great deal.-- "H-NET"