Thread by @EmporersNewC

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Right, so, I guess it's time for a history lesson.

When the European project comes along, we don't want to be a part of it because how it affects our relationship to the Commonwealth and the Sterling area.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE We want to be part of a political union, but when it comes to a Common Market, that means a Common Currency and a Customs Union, that's a double whammy.

We want a free trade area that maintains our Commonwealth ties.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE When negotiations for that fail, we feel forced to join the Common Market to solve our economic problems.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE So let's get something absolutely clear, nobody wants a Common Fucking Market in the UK.

We're not alone France wasn't that impressed at the idea when it was raised either.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Common currency aside, there is the impact to the Commonwealth and the fact the CAP will raise prices.

All of which Labour weigh up in 62 and discuss in a major speech.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Making it clear they believed there was no guarantee on the economic benefits.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Needless to say, when Labour take power and announce they want to join the Common Market, they are now saying that they want people to pay more for food, to abandon the Commonwealth, and there is no guaranteed economic return.

They don't make the economic argument.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Labour focus on talking about the "Common Market" as a project which we are joining for the political benefits of building a future Europe.

When they refer to "The Common Market" the actual economic machinery is incidental to the argument.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Defence, foreign policy, influence, the political future, but economics? Not so much.

The term "The Common Market" is contextualized to what it actually is. A political project, not a common market.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE But before the Conservatives can take over the negotiation, we have the devaluing of the pound, food inflation, and that is expected to get worse because of CAP.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE The British public aren't too keen on this Common Market concept of a Common Agricultural policy and what it does to the price of butter.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE When Labour give up the ghost, the political side had been the entire argument for 3 years. 'The Common Market' is a political project we are joining for political reasons, and the economic argument was barely mentioned.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE And now Heath takes over when discussion of the economic argument gets people very angry about the inflation, so the economic argument, is not the focus of the sales pitch.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE The pro-Marketeers act to distance themselves from the idea that we are going into it economically by saying "This is not about the price of butter".

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE That this is more than just economics.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE "This, not butter, is what the Common Market is all about".

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE The Anti-Marketeers want to talk about the CAP and the Common Market and how it affects the price of butter.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE The pro-Marketeers want to sell the Community as the political gains vs the economic costs.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Nobody sells the Common Market as a Common Market, because that means selling something that puts people's prices up in the shops and abandons the Commonwealth by design.

Literally nobody wants a Common Market.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE The economic case was that we pay more money, abandon sterling, abandon Commonwealth, redivert the trade for economic benefits that only half the economists in this country believe will come.

This is not something to sell the European project on.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE If the economists are split down the middle, it's really not a winning argument. Especially when there are upfront economic costs.

@PKBook22 @heywoodbill @tconnellyRTE Indeed, Duncan in your clip refers to the size of the market, but not in the absence of the arguments that make it clear that this is a United Europe project, not an economic project.