In 1957 the French and the Germans doormen didn't let the UK into their little club called the EEC. In 1973 Economic misery gave Ted Heath the idea that it would be the panacea the UK economy needed. This time, secure in their position, the Gauleiters and Burgomeisters decided the UK could come on board provided the late arriving UK paid through the nose as it was way after closing time and nowhere else was open.
Whatever his faults, Ted Heath gave the UK a referendum and debate on the issue, and the pro-Europeans won. The rest is history and the UK followed into the Euro luvved up zone with ever more federalism taking us towards what many see as the inevitable United States of Europe.
But what if the UK had thumbed it's nose at its European cousins and decided to go it alone or with its Commonwealth or even with the US?
Would the UK be in a stronger position than it is today?