"Here, when the first referendum was held, whenever the "leave" camp claimed it was more than a trade arrangement they were shouted down as spreading lies and propaganda."
Here you can see what we were told in 1975, OG:
http://www.harvard-digital.co.uk/euro/pamphlet.htm
A brief snippet:
The aims of the Common Market are:
- To bring together the peoples of Europe.
- To raise living standards and improve working conditions.
- To promote growth and boost world trade.
- To help the poorest regions of Europe and the rest of the world.
- To help maintain peace and freedom.
The pamphlet makes interesting reading and there are many parallels between its contents and the campaign led by the government in 2016. Absent from the pamphlet are the very things OG mentions and in particular the decision making process of the "Common Market" outlined in 1975 is vastly different to today.
The electorate was conned in 1975. I was among those who were gullible as, to my eternal shame, I voted to remain. My excuse is that I was young and naive. It is clear that they came close to being conned again 41 years later. Fortunately there were enough people around who were not so easily duped.