The letter, written in 1960, suggests the UK’s membership of the EU had a crucial flaw long before the word ‘Brexit’ worked its way into the vocabulary. Former Prime Minister Edward Heath took Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC) – the precursor to the EU – in 1973, on the basis of a commitment the country would retain its national sovereignty. In June 1971, a White Paper had been sent to every home in the UK, promising: “There is no question of Britain losing essential sovereignty.”
Then, in a television broadcast in January 1973 to mark his signing of the Treaty of Rome, Mr Heath went even further.
He said: “There are some in this country who fear that, in going into Europe, we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty.
“These fears, I need hardly say, are completely unjustified.”
However, Mr Heath’s assertion is largely at odds with what he verifiably already knew about the EEC and its true plans.
The possible consequences of EEC membership for parliamentary sovereignty were drawn to the attention of Mr Heath already in 1960, when he was Lord Privy Seal.
In a letter addressed to him, which is now in the public record, the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Kilmuir, wrote: “I have no doubt that if we do sign the Treaty, we shall suffer some loss of sovereignty.
“Adherence to the Treaty of Rome would, in my opinion, affect our sovereignty in three ways:
“Parliament would be required to surrender some of its functions to the organs of the Community;
“The Crown would be called on to transfer part of its treaty-making power to those organs;
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“He agreed with him that some form of federal state was the ultimate aim of the EEC.”
In 2016, a petition appeared on the Government website, demanding for Lord Kilmuir’s letter to Edward Heath to be debated in Parliament.
The petition gained more than 10,000 signatures.
The letter was never debated in the House of Commons, but a spokesman for the now-defunct Department for Exiting the European Union said at the time: “The issues that this correspondence exchange raises, around Parliamentary sovereignty in relation to the EU, have been debated in Parliament many times.
“Although the letter from Lord Kilmuir to Edward Heath has never been the subject of a debate in the Houses, the issue of sovereignty in relation to the EU has been debated and discussed on numerous occasions.
“For example, during the passage of the European Act in 2011 and European Union Referendum Bill in 2015, where issues of sovereignty were debated extensively.
“The Government is clear that the referendum result is a mandate from the public to leave the European Union.
“It is a message that the majority of British people wish to see Parliament’s sovereignty strengthened. By the end of this process, when we have left the European Union, we will have put the supremacy and sovereignty of Parliament beyond doubt.”
