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The United Kingdom referendum of 1975 was a post-legislative referendum held on 5 June 1975 in the United Kingdom to gauge support for the country's continued membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), often known as the Common Market at the time, which it had entered in 1973 under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. Labour's manifesto for the October 1974 general election promised that the people would decide "through the ballot box" whether to remain in the EEC. The electorate expressed significant support for EEC membership, with 67% in favour on a 65% turnout. This was the first ever referendum that was held throughout the entire United Kingdom; previously, other referendums had been arranged only in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Greater London and individual towns. It remained the only UK-wide referendum until the United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011. The February 1974 general election yielded a Labour minority government, which then won a majority in the October 1974 general election. Labour pledged in its February 1974 manifesto to renegotiate the terms of British accession to the EEC, and to then consult the public on whether Britain should stay in the EEC on the new terms if they were acceptable to the government. The Labour Party had traditionally feared the consequences of EEC membership, such as the large differentials between the high price of food under the Common Agricultural Policy and the low prices prevalent in Commonwealth markets, as well as the loss of economic sovereignty and the freedom of governments to engage in socialist industrial policies, and party leaders stated their opinion that the Conservatives had negotiated unfavourable terms for Britain. The EEC heads of government agreed to a deal in Dublin by 11 March 1975; Wilson declared "I believe that our renegotiation objectives have been substantially though not completely achieved", and that the government would recommend a vote in favour of continued membership. On 9 April, the House of Commons voted 396 to 170 to continue within the Common Market on the new terms. In tandem with these developments, the government drafted a Referendum Bill, to be moved in case of a successful renegotiation. The referendum debate was an unusual time for British politics. During the campaign, the Labour Cabinet was split and its members campaigned on each side of the question, a rare breach of Cabinet collective responsibility. Most votes in the House of Commons in preparation for the referendum were only carried thanks to opposition support, and the government faced several defeats on technical issues such as election counts. Finally, although the government declared in advance that it would adhere to the result, the referendum itself was not binding upon the government in the strict legal sense, due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. This principle would itself come into question as a consequence of EEC membership in the Factortame litigation. ==Background== In April 1970, during the 1970 general election, Edward Heath said that further European integration would not happen “except with the full-hearted consent of the Parliaments and peoples of the new member countries.” However, no referendum was held when Britain agreed to an accession treaty on 22 January 1972 with the EEC states, Denmark, Ireland and Norway, or when the European Communities Act 1972 went through the legislative process. Britain joined the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973, with Denmark and Ireland. This later became the European Union. Throughout this period, the Labour Party was divided, both on the substantive issue of EEC accession and on the question of whether accession ought to be approved by referendum. In 1971, pro-Market figures like Roy Jenkins, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, said a Labour government would have agreed to the terms of accession secured by the Conservatives.〔 However, the National Executive Committee and the Labour Party Conference disapproved of the terms. In April 1972, the anti-Market Conservative MP Neil Marten tabled an amendment to the European Communities Bill which called for a consultative referendum on entry. Labour had previously opposed a referendum, but the Shadow Cabinet decided to support Marten's amendment. Jenkins resigned as Deputy Leader in opposition to the decision, and many Labour MPs abstained on the division. At the February 1974 general election, Labour's manifesto promised renegotiation of Britain's terms of membership, to be followed by a consultative referendum on continued membership under the new terms if they were acceptable. In the October 1974 manifesto, this was changed to the promise that Labour would "give the British people the final say, which will be binding on the Government – through the ballot box – on whether we accept the terms and stay in or reject the terms and come out."〔 This could be interpreted as including the option of an election in 1975;〔 however, Labour won a working majority, and a third election would be unusual after two in quick succession. The government introduced a bill which became the Referendum Act, 1975 and pior to this bill's passing there was no procedure or legislation at all within the United Kingdom for holding such a referendum. The question to be asked to the British electorate that was set out within the bill would be: "Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain part of the European Community (the Common Market)?" The referendum, the first and only nationwide plebiscite to be held in the UK during the 20th century, was of constitutional significance. Referendums had been widely opposed in the past on the grounds that they violated the principle of parliamentary sovereignty and the view among politicians given the principle of parliamentary sovereignty was that it would be the only one of its kind to be held. The first in the UK was the Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, 1973. The government favoured a single national count of votes; the Liberal Party favoured individual counts in each constituency; however, the majority in the House of Commons voted for counts by administrative regions.〔 The government did not set down any special threshold of "Yes" votes for approval of the referendum; a simple majority would suffice to win the vote. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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