UNDERHILL: More than 25 years after Britain joined the EU there still seems to be a general suspicion of the entire European project in this country. What’s your explanation?
HEATH: I don’t believe the suspicion exists in the minds of the majority of the British public and certainly not in the minds of the younger generation. But we’ve got a large section of the media which, very largely because of directions from its ownership, attacks every aspect of the European Union. Despite this, the indications at the moment are that the majority of people will support a single currency if we can show that it fits in with the needs of the time.
I feel it’s essential for our future. We no longer have a commonwealth or empire and we are no longer a major power in the world. But what moved me first of all was seeing the developments in Europe in the late ’30s and then all through the war. I was determined to stop Europe tearing itself apart again if I could.
Yes. If you read the statement which was made at the end of the meeting of the [then] nine member states in Paris in October 1972, you will find that we planned to complete the whole of the economic union, as well as political union, by 1980. We didn’t achieve it because of the 1973 [Middle East] war, which caused so many problems with oil supplies and so on.
We wasted 22 years from 1950 until 1972 by always putting off a decision [about joining the EU]. My great anxiety is that we shall go through the same process again with the euro. Of course the philosophy behind this [delay] is ridiculous. The present prime minister and chancellor of the Exchequer say they want to see whether the euro is successful or not. If every member took that view, we would never start anything.
The effects on the currency will be enormous. We shall be at the mercy of every speculator. The euro will be a strong currency and we shall be out on our own. It’s all very well to look at the present level [of the pound sterling], but when we get into a downward economy the speculators will have their day.
It’s a reaction against the previous 18 years [of Conservative rule]. But M.P.s are beginning to realize that he’s afraid of the House of Commons. He hardly ever appears there. What he’s concerned with is [his] public image.
We had been in power for 18 years, which is a very long time under any system, and people felt that we were out of touch with the public.
In some respects we had moved on to policies which didn’t have the support of the greater number of the people, particularly in the field of the social services. There were also of course the internal quarrels, which were very public at that time.
No, I think Europe as a problem has been overemphasized. I know that in the constituencies the number of people who would ask any questions about Europe was minuscule. In any case they’ve got a government [now] that is much more pro- European than the one that was dismissed–and they knowingly voted for it.
