European Union (Accessions) Bill

I was impressed with the contribution of my hon. Friend, and he makes his point well. It is easy to find scapegoats and frighten people if everyone who is of non-British origin is seen as different, threatening or less beneficial to our society. If we make Europe wider by allowing people to come in from countries that have been frozen out for a long time and, as a consequence of their suffering, have created societies that we do not applaud, it is possible, as part of that enterprise, to give them a standard of living and an aspiration to achieve the sort of relationships that make us happy. Regardless of how we fall out over economics or policies such as defence, if we set out on that journey—the treaty is a step along the way—we will build a Europe of which we are all proud, irrespective of whether we believe in the EU as it stands or some other arrangement for the countries of Europe to work together.