A Common Appeal: Anglo‐British Nationalism and Opposition to Europe, 1970–1975

Debates over European integration allow the articulation of an English nationalism based upon an Anglo‐British identity committed to Parliamentary sovereignty and British exceptionalism. This was seen during debates over entry to the European Economic Community between 1970 and 1975, which ended with a referendum. Tony Benn and Enoch Powell emerged as leaders of the campaign. With Benn a leading figure of the Labour Left and Powell a prominent yet contradictory figure on the right, they presented unlikely allies. However, since European integration conflicted with their Anglo‐British identity, partisan politics were secondary to nationalist sentiments. By examining Benn and Powell's anti‐Market rhetoric, this article considers 1970–1975 as the period in which the paradox of Anglo‐British nationalism was affirmed: that its populist expression can be used to reinforce parliamentary sovereignty.