Editing Britain in Europe

{{Distinguish|Britain Stronger in Europe}}
{{primary sources|date=January 2010}}
{{United Kingdom in the European Union}}
Until August 2005, '''Britain in Europe''' was the main [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Pro-Europeanism|pro-European]] [[Advocacy group|pressure group]].  Despite connections to [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], it was a cross-party organisation with supporters from many different political backgrounds.  Initially founded to campaign for a “Yes” vote for the [[euro]], it then progressed to support a “Yes” vote for the referendum on the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe]].

The organisation was launched in 1999 by [[Tony Blair]], [[Gordon Brown]], [[Kenneth Clarke]], [[Michael Heseltine]] and [[Charles Kennedy]]. In 2003, the organisation formally linked itself with the [[Brussels]]-based, pro-European, international organisation [[European Movement International|European Movement]].

The director of Britain in Europe was Simon Buckby and later [[Lucy Powell]]. The director of communications was the [[Scottish Liberal Democrat]] politician [[Danny Alexander]].

On 17 August 2005, the group was wound up following the [[2005 French European Constitution referendum|French]] and [[2005 Dutch European Constitution referendum|Dutch]] "No" votes on the proposed [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|European Constitution]]. Its resources were turned over to the European Movement.

A successor pro-EU campaign, founded in 2012, is [[British Influence]].

== Publications ==
All are [[portable document format|PDF]] files 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050310120434/http://www.britainineurope.org.uk/theissues/publications/straight-bananas.pdf Straight Bananas: 201 anti-European myths exploded (543kb)] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041126071403/http://www.britainineurope.org.uk/theissues/publications/theres-something-about-ukip There's something about UKIP (223kb)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050310115931/http://www.britainineurope.org.uk/theissues/publications/thetruthisoutthere.pdf The Truth is Out There (865kb)]

== Backers ==
The organisation disclosed the names of individuals and companies from which it received donations of more than £5,000, in line with the requirements of the Political Parties Act, although it was not a political party and was not obliged to do so.

=== List of backers ===
*[[Amicus (trade union)|Amicus]]
*[[Alstom]] UK Ltd
*[[Rod Aldridge]]
*[[BAE Systems]]
*[[Boase Massimi Pollitt|BMP DDB]]
*[[British American Tobacco|BAT]]
*[[Kumar Bhattacharyya]]
*[[Winfried Bischoff]]
*[[Bmi (airline)|British Midland]]
*[[BT Group plc|British Telecommunications plc]]
*[[Bunzl]] PLC
*[[Cookson Group]] plc
*[[Dyson (appliances)|Dyson Appliances Ltd]]
*[[Ernst & Young]] LLP
*[[European Movement International|European Movement]]
*[[David Evans, Baron Evans of Watford|Lord Evans of Watford]]
*[[Ford Motor Company]]
*[[Chris Gent]]
*[[Christopher Haskins]]
*[[Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick|Lord Hollick]]
*[[Geoffrey Howe|Lord Howe of Aberavon]]
*[[International Computers Limited|ICL]] PLC
*[[Kellogg's]]
*[[Kimberly-Clark]] Ltd
*[[KPMG]]
*[[Colin Marshall, Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge|Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge]]
*[[Mind share]] UK
*[[Nestlé]] (UK) Ltd
*[[Gulam Noon, Baron Noon|Gulam Noon]]
*[[Lindsay Owen-Jones]]
*[[Philips|Philips Electronics]] (UK) Ltd
*[[PricewaterhouseCoopers]]
*[[Reuters]] Group PLC
*[[Rowntree trusts|Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust]]
*[[David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville|Lord Sainsbury of Turville]]
*[[Colin Sharman, Baron Sharman]]
*[[Siemens|Siemens AG]] PLC
*[[Barry Townsley]]
*[[Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell|Adair Turner]]
*[[UBM plc]]
*[[Unilever]] PLC
*[[Xerox]] Ltd
*[[Wrigley Company|Wrigley]] UK Ltd

== See also ==
*[[British Influence]]
*[[UK Independence Party|UKIP]]

== External links ==
*{{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20041129114535/http://www.britainineurope.org.uk:80/}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130704123419/http://ukineurope.com/ Unofficial information page]
*[http://cep.lse.ac.uk/layard/RL334D.pdf "Britain in Europe : Why Britain Should Join The Euro"], [[pamphlet]] by [[Richard Layard]], [[Willem Buiter]], [[Christopher Huhne]], [[Will Hutton]], [[Peter Kenen]] and [[Adair Turner]], 1 August 2002

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[[Category:Brexit-related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Pro-Europeanism in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in the United Kingdom]]