Brexit uncertainty has gripped the nation as Theresa May faces the wrath of her own party by looking to secure the support of Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in her bid to rule out no deal. Leavers across the nation fear that the historic result of the 2016 referendum could be betrayed, as Nigel Farage looks to be on a collision course with the establishment once more through the emerging Brexit Party. However, euroscepticism in the UK is nothing new and several campaigners, not least the late Tony Benn, devoted their lives to securing Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc.

Now, unearthed documents reveal that none other than Charles De Gaulle – a key player within the European Economic Community in its formative years – doubted whether the bloc would be beneficial for Britain and made a series of points that may appear profoundly prophetic to Brexiteers today. 

The EEC was formed at the Treaty of Rome on March 24, 1957, with Belgium, West Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands making up the original six signatures. 

Britain, of course, was notable by its absence. 

However, General De Gaulle – who served as President of France from 1959 to 1969 – not only understood why politicians in Westminster were not involved in proceedings but he also sympathised with their reasons.

The nature, the structure, the very situation that are England’s differ profoundly from those of the continentals

Charles De Gaulle

A statement issued on behalf of the French government in May 1967 concludes that Britain is “not continental”, “tied to the United States” and suggests that the UK’s reasons for not joining the bloc were “understandable”.

It reads: “Compared with the motives that led the six [founder nations] to organise their unit, we understand for what reasons, why Britain – who is not continental, who remains, because of the Commonwealth and because she is an island, committed far beyond the seas, who is tied to the United States by all kinds of special agreements – did not merge into a Community with set dimensions and set rules.”

It did not stop there, though.

General De Gaulle echoed the sentiments expressed by Tony Benn decades later, in pointing out that Britain benefitted from inexpensive imports from the Commonwealth and, conversely, would be “forced to raise the price of her food” if the country “submitted to the rules of the six” EEC member states at the time.

The statement continued: “Britain nourishes herself, to a great extent, on food-stuffs bought inexpensively throughout the world and, particularly, in the Commonwealth. 

“If she submits to the rules of the six, then her balance of payments will be crushed by ‘levies’ and, on the other hand, she would then be forced to raise the price of her food to the price level adopted by the continental countries, consequently to increase the wages of her workers and, thereby, to sell her goods all the more at a higher price and with more difficulty.”

Finally, the hero of the French Resistance during World War Two also pointed out that Britain would be “isolated” within the EEC’s “costly regime” and asked: “How can it not be seen that the very situation of the pound sterling prevents the Common Market from incorporating Britain?”

General De Gaulle’s comments came just six months before he was to say “non” to Britain’s EEC membership application for the second time, humiliating Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the process. 

It came four years after his first veto, when it was Harold Macmillan he sent packing with repeated references to Britain’s insular and maritime status as his justification. 

Britain, he said, was simply not European enough and had “in all her doings very marked and very original habits and traditions”.

He added: “In short, the nature, the structure, the very situation that are England’s differ profoundly from those of the continentals.”

The French Journal of British Studies notes that there were many on the other side of the Channel who agreed with his analysis. 

In 1951, the Labour Party’s “European Unity” pamphlet argued that: “In every respect except distance, we in Britain are closer to our kinsmen in Australia and New Zealand on the far side of the world, than we are to Europe.” 

Nevertheless, Edward Heath successfully negotiated Britain’s entry into the EEC in 1972 and, on January 1, 1973, Britain officially joined the bloc. 

However, during the 1975 referendum on Britain’s entry, General De Gaulle’s comments were to resurface. 

During a debate with fellow Labour MP Roy Jenkins, passionate eurosceptic Tony Benn argued that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was a “siege economy” designed to favour the French and harm Britain.

Regarding the surge in food prices, he added: “We have butter mountains and beef mountains because the Common Agricultural Policy was developed to benefit the French and if you read [Charles] De Gaulle’s famous veto speech, he said the CAP would be a crushing burden on the British economy.

“He never thought that Mr Heath would go on his knees and accept it.”

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