Correct me if I am wrong, but from what I have read of Churchill's thoughts on the matter (only his biography), he believed that Europe should be united but that the UK wasn't to be a part of it. Did I miss something?
It's unclear. I'm not sure if he said something explicit either way. In his speech proposing a Council of Europe and a Unite States of Europe, he says that Great Britain and the British Commonwealth of Nations and others should be friends of the new Europe, but when the Council of Europe was first created, and Churchill was actively part of that, the UK became part too.
He also at one point proposed outright union between the UK and France.
The important thing to consider, with respect to his United States of Europe speech though, is that when Churchill spoke of this, the UK still had an empire - it was a super-state, though one in decline, and the Commonwealth still meant something more than a loose association. He was speaking from a position where the UK was already "spoken for" so to speak.
Yet over the years afterwards he was one of the driving forces of European integration, including for the UK, but of course he did not see how far it was going.
He also at one point proposed outright union between the UK and France.
The important thing to consider, with respect to his United States of Europe speech though, is that when Churchill spoke of this, the UK still had an empire - it was a super-state, though one in decline, and the Commonwealth still meant something more than a loose association. He was speaking from a position where the UK was already "spoken for" so to speak.
Yet over the years afterwards he was one of the driving forces of European integration, including for the UK, but of course he did not see how far it was going.