Business of the House (Lisbon Treaty)

Of course I accept that point. Most importantly, the treaty makes it crystal clear that the UK will be able to choose whether to participate on justice and home affairs measures, which cover visas, immigration, asylum, judicial and police co-operation, and criminal matters. A debate of substance ought to take place on that, and I can certainly see the argument for it being partly the subject of a themed debate. The same is true of energy. My constituency springs to mind; it is a significant energy user because of the chemical industry there. We need a proper, structured solution to the unfairness in the energy markets across Europe; nowhere is that felt more keenly than in north-west England. The Lisbon treaty provides the EU with a dedicated legal base from which to tackle the liberalisation of the energy market, so that we can promote renewables and so on. That must be good. That is a powerful reason why energy ought to be the subject of part of the themed debates. I could take the House through the other sections of the motion, but in fairness to other colleagues who want to speak, I shall not. I hope that the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey will accept that although one can come up with all sorts of arguments about how such debates ought to be structured, there is some sort of rationale justifying the approach that has been taken.