Treaty of Lisbon (No. 4)

On the contrary, the right hon. Lady is simply wrong. Yes, the protocol has the same legal status as the body of the treaty—I accept that without dispute—but I shall show in a few moments how the European Court of Justice interprets European treaties when it makes decisions, and the trap that we are walking into by relegating this measure from the body of the treaty to the protocol. I shall quote to her what those who have pressed for this change have said. They have not pressed for the removal of these provisions from the body of the treaty to a protocol as a cosmetic change; they have pressed for their removal as a substantive change to the body of European Union law. To cover their humiliation, the Government embarked on a duplicitous attempt to conceal the scale of the defeat. First, they resolved to deny the referendum that they had promised the British people, because it would have exposed the gap between the rulers and the ruled. They then created a smokescreen of red lines and emergency brakes, which my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) has brilliantly demonstrated is a meaningless charade of flannel and smoke that offers no durable protection. We have heard yet more flannel and smoke from the Secretary of State today. I suppose we should be grateful that he remembered to bring his flannel and smoke with him to the Chamber this week; we should be grateful for something. Depending on which authority we follow, we know that the treaties are between 90 and 98 per cent. identical to the aborted constitution. It is ironic that one of the few changes made between the draft constitution and these treaties is the relegation of the concept of unfettered competition in the single market from the heart of the structure to the periphery. Instead of making a stand for the principles of economic liberalism, which he repeatedly claims to espouse, the Prime Minister slunk off to Lisbon, almost literally in the dead of night, and looking every inch like a man engaged in a furtive and shameful little mission, to sign the treaty and sell out the interests not only of Britain, but of millions of Europeans whose prosperity will now be put at risk. Let me explain why people's prosperity will be put at risk. In 1957 a genuine single European market, on its own, would have ensured Europe's prosperity—but this is 2008, not 1957. At the beginning of the 21st century the single market, which after 50 years of progress remains far from complete, can only be part of a much larger global picture. We now have to look outwards and further afield. Our need is for a single, open, free, lightly-regulated and competitive market in Europe, not only for its own sake but to act as a base from which European businesses can compete effectively as part of an open world trading system. If we are to prosper, not only in our home market but in the wider world market, the EU single market must be open by virtue of the absence of barriers to competition, not by virtue of a heavy-handed structure of managed and regulated competition. Conservative Members are not prepared to see Britain's prosperity being dragged down into the quicksand of over-regulation and economic nationalism. Our future lies in engaging with, not resiling from, globalisation.