European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, who takes his title from the village where I live in Scotland, although I have never quite worked out why. I guess that this is as close as we are going to be on this subject. I was struck by his speech, which I listened to with great interest. While I was in government he served with great distinction, but I thought that his use of the term ““Luddite”” today was a little unwise. Luddites were people who went around smashing up machinery that worked perfectly well, and this Parliament is a good example of a machine that has worked very well over the centuries. Looking down the list of speakers, I am struck that today we seem to be creating a new institution. We already have the Chelsea Pensioners, but we can now add the ““Brussels Pensioners”” to our national institutions. Given the shortness of time, I shall concentrate on what is not in the Bill rather than on what is in it—that is, the requirement to have a referendum in order to ensure ratification. We have all been dazzled by the prestidigitation of the former Prime Minister and the noble Baroness the Leader of the House. We have been conned into arguing about whether the Bill is the same as the constitution or different from it. That is almost an irrelevance; of course they are the same. If noble Lords think back, they will remember that, when we were dealing with the constitution and Peter Hain was a Member of the Cabinet, he was arguing that the constitution was just a tidying-up exercise, there was nothing in it and there was no need for a referendum because of that. Exactly the same arguments are being used in respect of this treaty. Let us remember that the Government’s position on the constitution before was that it did not do very much and there was no need for a referendum. The constitution and the treaty are virtually identical. The Labour Party had no intention of having a referendum on either of them because it knew that it did not have the support of the British people for giving away the powers of this Parliament to Europe and enabling Europe to take more power without the consent of national parliaments. Behind all this, the issue is simple; it is dead straightforward. The point is that the previous Prime Minister promised a referendum on the constitution not because it was a constitution but because, he said, "““the people should have their say””." He did so to the utter astonishment of his colleagues in Parliament and to the dismay of those who wished to see the creation of a federal Europe. Why did he do it? For the same reason as he did it in 1997 on devolution: he wanted to take the issue out of the general election campaign. Why did he want to do that? His focus groups showed him that further European integration was unpopular and that he would lose votes. The Prime Minister proposed the referendum; he put it in the manifesto as an utterly cynical ploy so that when people said, ““What about the constitution?””, he was able to say, ““That’s for another day. You will have your opportunity to discuss that””. That is why the introduction of the Bill without that commitment is an absolute disgrace. Reading the debates in the other place, I was struck by the fact that even the Foreign Secretary could not bring himself to endorse the decision of the previous Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on constitutional grounds. He said: "““I certainly agree that there was no way on the basis of its constitutional significance that it merited the decision that was taken””.—[Official Report, Commons, 21/1/08; col. 1246.]" That is the decision to have a referendum. To my mind the issue for the House is absolutely straightforward. Should Members of Parliament keep their promises? At the 2005 general election, as my noble friend has pointed out, every Member of Parliament stood on a platform proposing a separate referendum on the constitution. The Government were elected on a manifesto that enshrined the Prime Minister’s promise to Parliament. The other place is quick to remind us of the Salisbury convention, which holds that this House should not frustrate the delivery of manifesto commitments. Here we have a role to prevent opportunistic politicians—I look to the Liberal Benches—reneging on their promises. I intervened on the speech of the noble Baroness and was given a real beating up because apparently there is a new doctrine that we are not allowed to seek information. I have looked at what she said—in fact, it was not last Friday but two Fridays ago. I asked her what distinguished her description of this treaty from what was contained in the manifesto. She refused to answer and hid behind procedure, just as the leader of the Liberal Party tried to hide behind procedure when my noble friend Lord Strathclyde asked him how the Liberals were going to vote. It is worth repeating what the Labour Party manifesto says because clearly the noble Baroness has not read it. It describes the treaty and states: "““The new Constitutional Treaty ensures the new Europe can work effectively, and that Britain keeps control of key national interests like foreign policy, taxation, social security and defence. The Treaty sets out what the EU can do and what it cannot. It strengthens the voice of national parliaments and governments in EU affairs. It is a good treaty for Britain and for the new Europe. We will put it to the British people in a referendum and campaign wholeheartedly for a ‘Yes’ vote to keep Britain a leading nation in Europe””." That sounds familiar. It is exactly how the noble Baroness described this treaty. There is no difference, no distinction. I would argue that it is, to say the least, a misleading description of the treaty, but it is the basis on which the Government won the general election and the basis on which they put themselves before the people. Only one in five voters voted for the Government in 2005 and double that number refused to vote at all. In England, the Tories actually had more votes than the Government and today both devolved Assemblies favour a referendum. The cynicism about politics and politicians is at an all-time high. Is it any wonder that more and more people do not bother to vote when Governments are capable of reneging on such fundamental promises? The Liberals are hardly any better, with some honourable exceptions, who are forced by their leadership to resign their jobs for keeping their word to their constituents. They are led by a leader who insisted that their policy was to abstain on this issue. Today we are told that they have yet a third position: they have been in favour, they have abstained and now they are anti. What must those people who were sacked think of the leadership of their party, which seems to be a complete shambles? It is probably worth looking at what the Liberals said in their manifesto. First, there was a homily on, of all subjects, the importance of trust. ““Trust”” they said, "““because to deliver freedom and fairness, we need to give citizens the power to hold Government to account””." Then they said: "““But with enlargement to twenty-five member states, the EU needs reform to become more efficient and more accountable. The new constitution helps to achieve this by improving EU coherence, strengthening the powers of the elected European Parliament compared to the Council of Ministers, allowing proper oversight of the unelected Commission, and enhancing the role of national parliaments. It also more clearly defines and limits the powers of the EU, reflecting diversity and preventing over-centralisation. We are therefore clear in our support for the constitution, which we believe is in Britain’s interest—but ratification must be subject to a referendum of the British people””." Again, there is no difference between how they described it in the manifesto and how they describe it today. Of course, Charles Kennedy was the leader then, but a certain Mr Nick Clegg, who I believe is now designated the leader, went further than the manifesto: "““Any proposals which involve significant change in the relationship between the Union, the member states and its citizens should be approved in Britain through a referendum””." It was alleged in the House of Commons that the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, threatened to resign. I do not know whether she would like to clarify that. I find it absolutely incomprehensible that she, with her distinguished record, having left the Labour Party when faced with a Bennite group that wanted us to leave the EU without a referendum, could possibly, as an unelected person, force elected Members into reneging on a manifesto commitment.