European Communities (Finance) Bill

Indeed. The hon. Gentleman is right to mention that. There may not be a lot of fishing in Luton, North, but we eat fish. I have seen an estimate that if something is not done, all the fish will be fished out of the seas by about 2020, which would be a tragedy for the whole world, as we cannot replace fish stocks. We have to guard fish stocks and I believe that member states would be best at guarding their own fish stocks when they knew that their futures depended on them. When fishing is going on in other people's fishing waters, far less concern will be expressed than when it is a matter of protecting one's own waters. Giving each member state responsibility for its own fish stocks in its own fishing waters would be a sensible way of protecting fish stocks for everyone. I am afraid that I cannot support this Bill tonight. It would be dishonest for me to go through the Aye Lobby on this particular Bill. However, I would like to support what the Foreign Secretary said the other day. He argued that we should not promote the development of Europe as a superstate, but that Europe should be an association of independent and democratic nations. I agree absolutely and I have made that point very strongly in the past. What we are seeing is a constant drift towards that superstate and at some point we have to start saying no. We could start to say no by abolishing the CAP and restoring some of the functions carried out by the EU to member states. We could then work together on a co-operative, fraternal and sororal association of states to everyone's benefit. That would not only benefit everyone's living standards in Europe, but would improve our relations with our neighbours as well. We would not have so many arguments with our French neighbours—I must say that I love France very much and go there every year for my holidays—if the CAP did not exist. I suggest that we should take a much tougher line next time. Sadly, I cannot support the Bill tonight.