Professor Philip Lord Norton of Louth P.Norton@hull.ac.uk
Professor of Government
Divided loyalties: The European Communities Act 1972
Lord Norton of Louth, Philip
Authors
Abstract
UK membership of the European Communities (EC) was prompted by economic and political factors. It represented a novel constitutional departure; one that was contested. The proposal for membership created divisions between, and within, both main parties. Although both Houses voted overwhelmingly in support of the principle of the membership, the short bill to give legal effect in UK law to membership was bitterly contested, the government achieving the second reading of the bill through a vote of confidence. The bill was opposed consistently by the Labour opposition and dissident Conservative back benchers, though passage of the bill was achieved eventually, courtesy of Liberals and some abstaining Labour MPs, and without amendment. The act enabled the United Kingdom to become a member of the EC, with important consequences for the UK constitution, including creating a juridical dimension unparalleled since before the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Parliament has provided for its own legislation to be subordinate to that of the EC, while adapting to the new situation through the creation of committees to scrutinise European documents.
Citation
Lord Norton of Louth, P. (2011). Divided loyalties: The European Communities Act 1972. Parliamentary History, 30(1), 53-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-0206.2010.00242.x
Journal Article Type | Review |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 1, 2011 |
Online Publication Date | Jan 24, 2011 |
Publication Date | Feb 1, 2011 |
Journal | PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY |
Print ISSN | 0264-2824 |
Publisher | Wiley |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 30 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 53-64 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-0206.2010.00242.x |
Keywords | European Economic Community (EEC); European Communities (EC); European Communities Bill; House of Commons; House of Lords; Labour Party; Conservative Party; Legislation |
Public URL | https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/399949 |
Publisher URL | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1750-0206.2010.00242.x |
You might also like
Parliaments and Post-Legislative Scrutiny
(2020)
Book
The Conservative Nation Redivivus?
(2021)
Journal Article
And another thing … The House of Lords: Reform, not elect
(2014)
Book Chapter
Downloadable Citations
About Repository@Hull
Administrator e-mail: repository@hull.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search