European Union (Amendment) Bill

The hon. Gentleman says that there are substantial differences between the constitution and the treaty before us, but last night on the BBC’s ““Newsnight””, a commentator said, ““There are differences but they are differences of nuance.”” He also said: ““I think you have to go through some pretty perverse constitutional contortions to be able to go back and explain to the electorate why that promise for a referendum doesn’t hold.”” That commentator was one Mark Littlewood, head of media for the Liberal Democrats until last year. That is the accurate position. Clearly, it is not only the leader of the hon. Gentleman’s party who can run into calamities from time to time. The promise was made specifically about the European constitution, and given the overwhelming similarity between the constitution and the reform treaty, all attempts to wriggle out of that commitment will only be seen, and will only be, the weasel words with which a solemn promise is deliberately and calculatingly broken.