European Union (Amendment) Bill

Conservatives believe in ““trust the people””. The bottom line for the purposes of the debate is that we as a Parliament will decide whether a referendum will be granted, and I disagree with my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) when he says that we should not have referendums. There are 27 million voters. That is what we should be concentrating on. Since 1975, 27 million voters have not had the opportunity to express their view on the extension and accumulation of all the European legislation and treaties. It does not necessarily follow that we cannot come to some accommodation in the process of renegotiation as to what it is that we would end up with if we produced a no vote, but it is absolutely right that the voters of this country—for whom we hold our positions on trust—must be allowed to have their say. The Foreign Secretary rightly remarked mostly on the content of the treaty, but I agree with my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) that promises have been broken. It is a complete fraud for people to suggest that that is not the case. My right hon. and learned Friend, for whom I have the greatest respect, was rightly able to make his case, as was my right hon. Friend the Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry). I say that without prejudice to the reality at the heart of the process, which is that a vast amount of power is draining away from the House. We are elected by the voters, who have the right to have the final say. Why do I say that? It is simple. As the Foreign Secretary rightly said, the debate is about the content of the treaty, but it is also about what he called the constitutional balance of power. The structure of the relationship between the UK and the EU is being altered by the treaty, and that is the issue on which I shall concentrate and on which the debate should turn. The whole process was started off in a unique constitutional manner, with a mandate put forward by the German Government. My right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr. Duncan Smith) mentioned their questionnaire. The mandate was agreed by the member states in a unique and unconstitutional manner.