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Between 1975-2016 only the Liberals/Lib-Dems & the DUP stayed on the same side of the EEC/EU debate, everyone else (Tory, 
, UUP, Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru, Greens, SNP,) swapped sides. In 1989 Nigel Farage voted for the Greens at the Euro elections, thats how much things changed.
, UUP, Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru, Greens, SNP,) swapped sides. In 1989 Nigel Farage voted for the Greens at the Euro elections, thats how much things changed.
They were a Eurosceptic party with David Icke as their most prominent public face at that point & they received 2.3M votes, including Nigel Farage’s apparently, that year. That gives you an insight into how much things have changed when it comes to party attitudes towards Europe.
All the nationalist parties swapped sides, aside from the DUP. The Tories, previously the most enthusiastic about Europe after the Liberals, went increasingly Eurosceptic after Maggie’s Bruges speech in 1988, Labour changed its stance in 1989, the Greens sometime thereafter.
Im thinking that the end of the cold war, collapse of the USSR & the rise of the ‘unipolar moment’ in 
hegemony at the start of the 1990s is what ultimately changed things. Euroscepticism was seen as LW before then. Right-wing thereafter. Everything hinging on the pivot of 1989
hegemony at the start of the 1990s is what ultimately changed things. Euroscepticism was seen as LW before then. Right-wing thereafter. Everything hinging on the pivot of 1989
In other words: Before 1989 the EEC was seen by British right-wingers as a bulwark against Soviet Communism, after 1989 the EU was seen by British left-wingers as a bulwark against American-style free-market capitalism.
The reason why Jeremy Corbyn confused people on this issue was that he represented a time when left-wingers were overwhelming euro-sceptic & had never changed. He was the Hiroo Onado of British left-wing euro-scepticism.
What I find interesting is the way both sides, left & right, have memory-holed this history. Tories memory-hole Thatchers role in European integration & Labourites memory-hole their Eurosceptic history, they were officially committed to leaving the EEC until 1989 lest we forget.
Labourites convince themselves that Attlee would now be a committed Euro-phile if he were alive today. Tories convince themselves that Thatcher would now be a committed Eurosceptic. Their actual records suggest otherwise.
