My hon. Friend has moved on slightly from the point on which I wanted to intervene on him. I just wanted to make the point that the Factortame case was a critical moment for us. I also wanted to re-explain to the Committee—particularly some Labour Members, although not the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart), who understands these things—the reason why the position of European law and the European Court is much more damaging to us than to almost any other country. That is because we have no checks or balances to stop the direct judicial activism that has flowed here directly as a result of European law. The Conseil d'Etat and other constitutional courts make their Parliaments revisit this matter and study it, but we do not. That is why so much has flooded through this place. Now those countries anticipate that and act accordingly, so they do not get struck down in the courts. That is the big problem that we face with the clause.
European Union (Amendment) Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Iain Duncan Smith
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 4 March 2008.
It occurred during Debate on bills
and
Committee of the Whole House (HC) on European Union (Amendment) Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
472 c1693 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2023-12-16 00:35:48 +0000
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