European Union (Amendment) Bill

I do not really care which party tried to sell that line. It was the wrong line, and one that we have come to regret. What is so sad is that subsequent Governments have not sought to do anything about it. As other Members have pointed out, once we enter into arrangements such as this they are almost impossible to reverse. It is no use arguing that they were wrong at the outset and would prove devastating, because it is not possible to change them. That is why I find it sad that we have not given this Bill proper scrutiny. We are walking into something that will be irreversible. Conservative Front Benchers have been told, ““If you don't go along with this, no one will negotiate a different treaty with you. No one will talk to you.”” Indeed, I think that one argument was, ““There will be no one to talk to.”” We have had some experience of that in Northern Ireland. We opposed an agreement between the Irish Government, the British Government, the American Government, all the parties in the Irish Republic, all the parties in the House of Commons and all the parties in Northern Ireland. We had been told ““Don't even think of opposing it; no one will talk to you, let alone renegotiate the agreement.”” We did not believe that, and the agreement was renegotiated. Safeguards that had not been inserted in the first place were inserted. The people who had said that it would never be possible to persuade Sinn Fein to accept the police and give up their guns were proved wrong. Now I say to Conservative Front Benchers, ““Don't listen to that kind of nonsense.”” It should not be forgotten that we are valuable members of the European Union. The other members of the EU benefit from us as much as we benefit from them, and sometimes more when it comes to trade, the transfer of money and a host of other matters. If there is a change of Government—as I hope there soon will be—and the British people speak, saying that they do not like the terms of this treaty, there will be a chance of renegotiation. I do not think that Members should go limply through the Lobby to vote for the treaty simply because they have been told there is no alternative. The votes that have taken place so far have brought great sadness. Some powerful speeches have been made tonight about the erosion of the powers of this Parliament, about the increasing influence of Europe that will result from the treaty, and about the impact that that is likely to have on the lives of ordinary people here in the United Kingdom. I hope that Members will see the light between now and a quarter to 10, although I doubt it. Of course, it is not always a case of seeing the light; sometimes it is simply a case of Members managing to remove the Whips' arms from their throats. If that does not happen, however, at least those of us who stood on the basis of a manifesto commitment to put this to the British people in a referendum—to give them the right to have their say—can walk through the Lobbies tonight with our heads held high, and oppose the Third Reading of this Bill.