‘What is it we want?’

Far from being a time of reconciliation with the Six, as ministers and officials had convinced themselves it would be, the next six months was to be a period of confusion and disappointment. The divisions among government ministers and officials were to become ever more evident as key players such as the paymaster general and the British ambassador in Paris attempted to mould government policy in accordance with their respective (and opposing) instincts and aspirations. Their efforts were facilitated by the very lack of a coherent or recognizable government policy on Europe. The PM’s interest in the issue, which had become somewhat desultory since the EFTA decision had been reached, would be captured once again as the intractable nature of the difficulties still facing Britain became gradually more apparent. During this election period, though, one of the government’s priorities would be to ensure that the issue did not damage the prospects of the Conservative Party. The best way to accomplish this, ministers judged, would be to keep the matter off the electoral agenda. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.