How does the 2016 European referendum compare to 1975?

From the 1974 stockmarket crash to three-day weeks, voters from 1975 reveal how different - and difficult - the UK's economic situation was 41 years ago. Hardeep Tawakley reports.

It is four months to the day since Prime Minister David Cameron announced a date for the UK's referendum on its membership of the European Union. Cameron described the vote, promised as part of his 2015 General Election manifesto, as one of the biggest decisions "in our lifetimes", but for some in the financial services industry, the announcement and following debate has an all too familiar feel. It was in 1973, under Conservative leader Edward Heath that the UK finally succeeded in joining the European Economic Community (as the EU was then known). It followed two failed attempts in ...