Business of the House (Lisbon Treaty)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The European Scrutiny Committee has referred to those points. Its report of 27 November states that the measures ““considerably increase”” the powers of the EU Commission and Court of Justice. It said that"““a stronger position could have been achieved””" for Britain by the Government, but was not; that the deal on the protocol to which my hon. Friends have referred"““may lead to serious consequences for the UK””;" and that"““some new and possibly unquantifiable risk may have been introduced””." Its report of October stated that the opt-in safeguard was weak because Britain could not then opt out and that the ““emergency brake”” was not as effective as a veto. I hope that the Minister is taking note of the interventions. They illustrate that if time for debate on all those matters is limited to six hours, and if debate is confined on so many extensive new powers for the EU in respect of matters that could not more intimately affect our national sovereignty with a direct effect on our citizens’ rights, it is risible to claim that that six hours constitutes a ““very detailed discussion”” of the provisions.