UK still divided after 10 years in the EEC – archive, 31 December 1982

31 December 1982: The old rifts remain as political leaders pass conflicting judgments on Britain's first decade as a member of the Common Market

Mrs Thatcher yesterday described the European Economic Community as "a real force for stability, freedom, and democracy in an uncertain world," while Mr Foot - equally predictably - vowed that an incoming Labour Government would pursue a policy of withdrawal.

Mr Roy Jenkins, a former Commission of the European Commission and now leader of the Social Democratic Alliance, said that it would be a disaster to leave, while Mr David Steel, the Liberal leader, recalled that for almost 30 years it was the lone voice of his party which "unswervingly advocated the cause of European sanity."