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Few issues have caused as much domestic turbulence for so long in recent decades as those associated with Britain's role in the European integration process. EMU challenged traditional concerns of British policy on Europe: nationhood, sovereignty, and gradualism. It also conflicted with core Thatcherite policy beliefs about the sensitivity of monetary policy to market conditions. EMU appeared on the agenda as the Conservative Government wrestled with the question of ERM entry, and a cleavage appeared between ‘Europhiles’ and ‘Eurosceptics’. Mrs Thatcher was intent on asserting a more strident leadership on ‘Europe’, whilst her Chancellor was acting as a policy entrepreneur. Her government was thus ill‐prepared strategically for the EMU negotiations. After the surprise of the Delors Committee outcome, the Whitehall machine established tight policy coordination. Given the political context, however, it remained vulnerable to a narrowness of vision.

A case study of the rhetoric and heresthetics of Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown. It examines Thatcher's slogans: the free economy, where she succeeded, and the strong state, where she failed. The first changed the universe of political debate; the second destroyed the Conservative Party, as it split into its Europhile and Eurosceptical wings. The most successful heresthetic since 1997 has been Brown's grant of central bank independence within days of taking office.

The chapter gives an overview of the strategy of Labour in response to Brexit by detailing the words and action of key Labour figues in the wake of the referendum. Labour’s response to Brexit and course of developments between 2016 and 2019 is a story, as with the Conservative Party, of paradigm change, tension and struggle between the different strands and traditions of a party in a state of flux. The chapter sets out a typology: The Lexiteers – radical socialists who saw Brexit as part of the socialist transformation of Britain but included centrists who felt Britain must exit a federalist project and respect the referendum result. In contrast Labour Europhiles wished to retain close links with Europe or even retain full membership and were broadly drawn from the centrist strands of the party. A third strand were the Radical Left Europhiles who generally supported Corbyn the Labour leader but included soft left factions, they favoured remaining in the EU and working for radical reform in Europe. A policy of ambiguity was employed to maintain unity between these diverging groups. Jeremy Corbyn, Keir Starmer and Tony Blair are among the personalities that feature in the discussion.