European Union (Amendment) Bill

Following your instructions, Mrs. Heal, we will not reprise the debate about the business motion, but I cannot help but observe that yet again, three groups of amendments have not been touched at all. We therefore did not get a chance to discuss social policies, intellectual property, or economic and monetary policy. Again, this is not the line-by-line scrutiny that the Prime Minister promised the House. The Government have prayed in aid some businesses in defence of their position. I remind the Minister that the Institute of Directors pointed out the strong similarities between the EU constitution and the treaty of Lisbon, and that 90 per cent. of members of the Federation of Small Businesses, which was polled internally because of concerns about the business implications of the treaty, said that they wanted to have a referendum. I put that to all on the Government Benches and to the Liberal Democrats. The Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, who was polite to me, said that we needed the changes in the treaty to promote the single market, but he made a mistake. He said that the Commission had undertaken infraction proceedings against a French utility to break up a monopoly. He is right, but the Commission is doing so under the existing treaty base, so Lisbon is not necessary for that. I need to correct the hon. Gentleman on that. The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee also accused me of dwelling in the past, because we have an irritating habit of reading all the Government's failed amendments in the constitution negotiations. We shall continue to do that, so that the British people understand the extent of the volte-face that has been carried out. Indeed, the Government's position this evening has been to criticise us for having the temerity to table an amendment very similar to one that they attempted to press some years ago, but failed. It is rather rich of them to criticise us for trying to put right what they did wrong. Amendment No. 237 would prevent the Commission from having exclusive competence in the area that we have debated tonight, so that if this House needed to legislate to maintain areas of competition, it could still do so. That seems to me eminently sensible, not least because the Government failed to do it. That is why I shall press the amendment to the vote. Question put, That the amendment be made:— The House divided: Ayes 135, Noes 336.