British politicians need to reclaim leadership over the UK’s EU membership debate

In 1975 the United Kingdom held a successful referendum on maintaining its membership of the European Economic Community. With calls growing for a new referendum on the UK’s relationship with the European Union, Oliver Daddow argues that political leaders have largely ceded control of the debate to backbench MPs and an increasingly Eurosceptic media. Unless strong and determined arguments are made by the ‘pro-EU’ side, there is little hope of a new referendum producing the same result as in 1975