In 1975, the United Kingdom government distributed three pamphlets to voters in the weeks before the referendum on our continued membership of what was then the Common Market. I have reproduced them here. I am grateful to my colleagues Keeba and Alice for their invaluable help. They are (in order) the Government's own pamphlet recommending a 'Yes' vote (to stay in ), the 'Yes' campaign's pamphlet, urging a 'Yes' vote (to stay in), and the 'No' campaign's pamphlet urging a 'No' vote (to leave). Some readers may think this (combined with the fact that the 'Yes' vote is to confirm a fait accompli, and that the 'yes' side has an advantage in any such vote) is a little loaded in one direction. I might also point out that all significant newspapers, in those days commanding far larger daily sales than they do now, also favoured the 'Yes' side' .

In a separate posting I plan to offer an analysis of the arguments made at the time by both sides, and how they stand up 40 years later. In the meantime, I hope readers, whatever their view, find these documents helpful and useful:



















































