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Signalling Moderation: UK Trade Unions, ‘New Labour’ and the Single Currency

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  • Steve Coulter

Abstract

The paper examines why, and under what conditions, certain interest groups adopt positive positions on international economic issues. It provides a case study of how UK trade unions formed their preferences on membership of the EMU. Previous explanations of this have tended to emphasise the international dimension – either the material benefits on offer or whether or not they became ‘Europeanised’. A few authors are now exploring domestic political explanations instead. The paper builds on this growing literature to argue that the TUC, the peak association of organised labour in the UK, became extremely pro-EMU as part of a strategy to demonstrate its moderation to Tony Blair’s centrist ‘New’ Labour party, which was distancing itself from unions to court business.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve Coulter, 2016. "Signalling Moderation: UK Trade Unions, ‘New Labour’ and the Single Currency," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 121, European Institute, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:eiq:eileqs:121
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Frieden, Jeffry A., 1991. "Invested interests: the politics of national economic policies in a world of global finance," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 425-451, October.
    2. Dyson, Kenneth & Featherstone, Kevin, 1999. "The Road To Maastricht: Negotiating Economic and Monetary Union," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296386.
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