Despite her Eurosceptic stance, less than a month after leaving Westminster at the 1979 general election she stood for and was elected to the European Parliament, writing in the "Tribune" that "politics is not just about policies: it is about fighting for them in every available forum and at every opportunity." In 1982 she wrote in the "New Statesman" that Labour should abandon its opposition to British membership of the EEC, saying that Britain should fight its corner inside it. This led her former ally Ian Mikardo to say to her: "Your name is mud".