‘Europe was to be our deus ex machina; it was to create a political argument with insular socialism; dish the Liberals by stealing their clothes; give us something new after 12-13 years; act as a catalyst of modernisation; give us a new place in the international sun. It was Macmillan’s ace, and de Gaulle trumped it.”

This is how Michael Fraser, one of Supermac’s advisers, described the moment when General Charles de Gaulle doomed Harold Macmillan. On January 14, 1963, the French president said “Non” to Britain’s application to join the European Economic Community. The prime minister resigned later that year and it was another decade before we were allowed in.

That critical moment in our relationship with Europe sheds light on the critical decision