It is now best for the future of Britain... that we remain in the Community Prime Minister Harold Wilson

Both sides said they were delighted.

"We have had a conference and the decision is clear," said the Industry Secretary, Tony Benn, a leading figure in the anti-Common Market group. "It is very clear that there now must be a move for the Labour Party to campaign."

Shirley Williams, who spoke for the pro-EEC lobby, said, "It's much better than we had feared, but not quite as good as we had hoped."

The debate was staged as a set-piece event ahead of the referendum campaign. Opening the conference, the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, said his position was not one of principle, but one of pragmatism.

"My judgement is that it is now best for the future of Britain, best for the Commonwealth, best for the developing world, best for the wider world, that we remain in the Community," he said.

The Employment Secretary, Michael Foot, disagreed. He blamed this week's high unemployment figures on what he said was the damage to Britain's domestic market from European imports.

"I read these figures with horror and with shame," he said. "I want to see every instrument available at our command for dealing with unemployment here and now."

The Labour Party's splits over Europe have led to a series of embarrassments for the government recently. Labour MPs, including ministers, have forced defeats on the way votes are counted in the referendum, and on the renegotiation of Britain's membership of the EEC.

	E-mail this story to a friend