Former UK PM John Major’s cabinet considered having an EU referendum in 1994, papers reveal
- Declassified records show officials considered a vote about leaving the bloc due to rising scepticism about Europe
- A top sceptic was Margaret Thatcher, who described the EU as ‘an enormous and unacceptable transfer of responsibility away from national parliaments’
John Major’s ministers considered holding a referendum about the European Union in 1994 but could not decide what the question would be, official cabinet records reveal.
Faced with mounting Eurosceptic pressure, the prime minister at the time moved to prevent opposition to Brussels from building up. His officials even tried rewriting some of Margaret Thatcher’s increasingly critical speeches.
According to files released at the National Archives in Kew, the cabinet met on December 1 that year and noted: “Attention was drawn to the need for government to take a consistent line in response to renewed speculation about a referendum on European Union issues.
“Suggestions had been made that referendums should be held on two issues, the 1996 intergovernmental conference and adoption of a single currency. A referendum should not be ruled out. New guidance would be circulated in the near future to ensure that cabinet members spoke consistently on the question of a referendum.”
Frustration at the complexity of the subject, even within Whitehall, is evident from a comment left by an unnamed official or minister on a Foreign Office note explaining the reasons for the name European Union being used instead of European Community. “Clear as mud,” it read.