I am delighted to respond to the debate on the amendments. It was led—pretty gracefully, I thought—by the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) in his typical fashion. We have also heard—perhaps less enjoyably, but none the less interestingly—about the 4 am dreams of my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough (Sir Stuart Bell), and we have been told how the right hon. Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Mr. Lilley) was seduced, no less, into voting for membership of the European Community back then. I believe that that is what he was implying.
We also heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, West (Ms Hewitt). They are becoming a formidable double act, if they do not mind my saying so. In a series of telling interventions, they got to the core of the choices facing the House tonight. We also heard from the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford, South (Mike Gapes), who put the debate into a wider, international context. He referred to the unanimous conclusions of the Select Committee on these matters. Paragraph 162 of its report of 25 November states:"““We recommend that the Government…continue to encourage its EU partners to take a robust and united approach to dealing with Moscow, in the energy field and beyond.””"
That is the unanimous conclusion of all members, of all parties, of the Select Committee, including the right hon. Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory). It therefore seems to be accepted across the House that there is a need for a concerted effort and a united approach on energy policy, not only in Russia but in the wider international sphere.
We also heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty), who brought great wisdom and experience to the debate on the amendment. He talked about the changing nature of the debate, the negotiations on sovereignty and other matters relating to energy policy. He clearly articulated that, under the old arrangements, he campaigned against and would have voted against proposals such as those before us this evening. He said, however, that, because of the changes that we have secured on determining our own energy mix, retaining control of energy resources and ensuring that taxation remains an issue of unanimity, the proposals now have his enthusiastic endorsement.
European Union (Amendment) Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Jim Murphy
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 30 January 2008.
It occurred during Debate on bills
and
Committee of the Whole House (HC) on European Union (Amendment) Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
471 c429-30 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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2023-12-15 23:42:07 +0000
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