Treaty of Lisbon (No. 5)

The hon. Lady has shown how out of touch she is; I was clearly talking about the programme ““Dad's Army””, which is a comedy. As I will show, the Conservatives' position is far worse than merely outdated—it is astonishingly inconsistent and incoherent, as was manifestly obvious when one listened to the gaps between the jokes made by the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks. I am happy to make it crystal clear that the Liberal Democrats broadly welcome the treaty's modest changes on common foreign and security policy. Unlike the right hon. Gentleman, I stress the word ““modest””. Despite the hysteria being whipped up by some, the changes wrought by the treaty involve no new powers for Brussels, but a simple and sensible reallocation of powers between those responsible for that area of policy in Brussels. Foreign and security policy remains in the control of member states, as it always has been. Britain retains its veto on all key decisions—that is how radical the treaty is on that point.