Hugh Gaitskell: reassessing the roots of ‘a thousand years of history’

Abstract

Hugh Gaitskell’s speech at the October 1962 Labour Party conference in Brighton, in which he claimed that joining the European Economic Community (EEC) would signal ‘the end of a thousand years of history,’ has become a key moment in Labour mythology. Leading up to the speech, Gaitskell had followed a 'wait and see' approach. This has led to debates among scholars regarding why he ended up making such a statement in the manner and at the time he did. Was it about managing party divisions ahead of a general election? Did it reveal a scepticism he had always privately held? Or was it a nuanced criticism not of entry itself but of the terms negotiated by the Conservative government? A biographical analysis highlights the significance of Gaitskell’s growing - and genuine - concerns about the terms of entry. But his longstanding wariness of the EEC - shaped by his strong Commonwealth ties and Atlanticist views - made the speech easier to deliver. And he was not unaware that opposing EEC membership could serve the interests of party unity.