European Union (Amendment) Bill

I do not want to enter that debate now, but it is probably correct that referenda, as the previous Prime Minister, Mr Blair, obviously believed at the time, are in certain circumstances justified in giving the people a say before Parliament reaches its final conclusion. There is a lot in what the noble Lord said. The noble Baroness the Lord President began her speech with a major point about the primacy of EU law. It is correct that it was not in the Rome treaty; it evolved from the diktats and judgments of the European Court over the years, and was then given a boost by our own European Communities legislation when we joined the Community in 1972. This Bill and this treaty extend the powers of the ECJ enormously because of the collapse of the third pillar. Suddenly, they extend over a very wide area.