Word: macmillan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Market. The Commons debate began in the rosy afterglow of the weekend meeting between Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and French President Charles de Gaulle. No longer was Whitehall convinced that De Gaulle was determined to keep Britain out of the Market. Though the official communique was noncommittal, one British official summed it up: "Macmillan's weekend inclines us now to believe that De Gaulle will let us into the club-after socking us with the heaviest possible dues." No dues are high enough for some of the opponents to Britain's entry. The opposition includes some strange bedfellows...
...late afternoon when Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and his lady drove into the neatly trimmed country estate outside Paris. There the Charles de Gaulles awaited their weekend guests on the steps of the Château de Champs, the magnificently paneled onetime home of Madame Pompadour. It has become Macmillan's custom to make contact with France's haughty leader at least once a year. But this time it was especially important for the two statesmen to have their leisurely hours together in the French countryside, for Europe is moving into decisive times; bargains made, friendships hardened, grievances...
Swap Denied. Macmillan, who used to see himself in the role of "honest broker" between East and West, now was closer to acting as broker between West and West. There were many familiar items of disagreement within the Western Alliance-De Gaulle's desire for a loose European federation (Macmillan in agreement) and the U.S.-British desire to negotiate a Berlin settlement (De Gaulle opposed). As for nuclear weapons and France's determination to build its powerful independent force de frappe, there was-officially- little that the Prime Minister could say; Macmillan earlier had flatly denied any intention...
Clearly, the Common Market was uppermost in Harold Macmillan's mind. What price must Britain pay to enter Europe? The step now seemed inevitable, but at fearsome risk to Britain's Commonwealth ties. Charles de Gaulle fears the influence of the U.S.-British alliance in Europe; does he so savor the vision of France as No. 1 nation on the Continent that he would actively try to keep Britain out forever...
Seven Veils. The answers might soon show up in Brussels, where another round had begun in the negotiations on Britain's Common Market membership. As De Gaulle and Macmillan met, the mood in Brussels was distinctly-though perhaps only temporarily-improved. As the proceedings began, Britain's Lord Privy Seal Edward Heath set the tone. "Well, shall we begin the Dance of the Seven Veils?" he cracked in a reference to seven complicated problems that must be resolved for British membership...