European Union (Amendment) Bill

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and basically he is right. There is an increasing tendency in that direction, and it exists in a number of academic circles as well. To those who take an interest in these things—I hope Members do, because these issues will affect their constituents, which is my main concern in raising these points—I recommend their reading the section in the 14th edition of Bradley and Ewing that sets out in a crystal clear fashion the question of parliamentary supremacy and how it operates in relation to the EU, and effectively recommends that the formula I am adopting is the only way to achieve the objectives in relation to clause 6 or, indeed, the Bill as a whole. That is the subject of tomorrow's debate on new clause 9. There was a time when Professor Wade, who was one of the great authorities, purported to suggest that there had been a revolution in 1972, and therefore that the idea of European legislation was utterly entrenched. However, by the end of his distinguished career, he had already had it demonstrated to him that that was not the case.