In a significant week in Scottish politics, when the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruled against a second independence referendum, we head more than half a century back to another pivotal moment for the nation. Professor Murray Pittock takes us back to November 1967.

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1967 is remembered as a culturally rich year. It was the ‘Summer of Love’, of miniskirts, and of the Beatles colourful masterpiece Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. But as we discover in this episode, in the political world events of equal consequence were going on.

The late 1960s were turbulent times for the whole United Kingdom. The British Empire was in its final stage of collapse. Twenty five countries had claimed their independence in the years leading up to 1967 and in June, the Mediterranean Fleet, in operation since 1654, was disbanded.

This was a symbolic moment. When further announcements followed explaining that Britain was going to withdraw its forces ‘west of Suez’ as well as from Aden, it became clear that the country was shrinking as a global power.

At home things were little better. The economy was weak and in November 1967 the prime minister, Harold Wilson, sought to improve matters and stimulate growth by devaluing the pound. To gather support behind this controversial move Wilson delivered a television address, reassuring voters that ‘this will not affect the pound in your pocket’ - falsely as it turned out. Over the years that followed inflation continued to rise and with it the cost of living.

Wilson’s economic intervention in November 1967 coincided with the UK’s second attempt to join the European Economic Community. As with the first effort, several years before, this was unsuccessful.

Having exercised (for a second time) his veto, the elderly French statesman, Charles de Gaulle, explained his actions. In a prescient speech to an audience of civil servants he called for, ‘the growth of a more European frame of mind,’ and argued that England (the term he used) needed to choose between loyalty to America and loyalty to Europe.

While everyone could grasp the significance of these great events, in that same month, November 1967, something else happened that demanded attention. At the start of the month the Scottish National Party (SNP) had celebrated its first peacetime election victory, a huge, last minute, 38% swing from Labour which took everyone by surprise.

Their candidate was the legendary Winnie Ewing whose energy, talent and gift for a soundbite propelled her party onto the centre of the Scottish political stage, laying the groundwork for its subsequent success.

Winnie’s determination to put Scotland back on the global map was an attractive proposition to many voters and her catchphrase, ‘Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on’, caught the public imagination. It reflected the anxiety that Scotland, once a major partner in the Empire, had no clear role in an increasingly insular Great Britain.

Our expert guide on this journey through November 1967 is the Scottish academic Murray Pittock. With great wit and insight, Pittock explains why this month was a particularly significant one for the Scottish nation.

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Murray Pittock’s latest book Scotland, A Global History, 1603 to the Present is out now.

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Show notes

Scene One: 2 November 1967: Winnie Ewing wins the Hamilton by-election a total surprise, with the victory slogan ‘Stop the World: Scotland wants to get on’.

Scene Two: 18 November 1967: sterling devalued against the US $ by 14%; Chancellor of the Exchequer resigns. 

Scene Three: 27 November 1967: UK application to join EEC vetoed for a second time by Charles de Gaulle.

Momento: $1 Silver Certificate banknote.

People/Social

Presenter: Violet Moller

Guest: Murray Pittock

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Ace Cultural Tours

Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan

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About Murray Pittock

Professor Murray Pittock holds the Bradley Chair at the University of Glasgow, where he is also Pro-Vice Principal. Since graduating from the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford, respectively,

Pittock has taught at several academic institutions, including Manchester, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Strathclyde, and has held visiting appointments in the US, UK, Ireland and the Czech Republic. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Member of the European Academy, and prizewinner of the British Academy,

Pittock is one of Scotland’s foremost living historians, whose previous publications include Culloden, Enlightenment in a Smart City, and The Myth of the Jacobite Clans. In 2022, he is Scotland's Knowledge Exchange Champion of the Year.

Featured images

Trolleybusses in Glasgow in 1967

Shipbuilding on the Clyde in 1967

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