European Union (Amendment) Bill

I say more in sorrow than in anger to my noble friend the Leader of the House that if ever she sends our mutual noble friend Lady Farrington to recover the notes of the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, and subject us again to that tirade that we heard in consequence, my support for her leadership cannot be taken as guaranteed. However, there were in what the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, said one or two nuggets that are worth pursuing. One of them was pursued very effectively by the noble Lord, Lord Williamson, and related to the positive nature of that letter which Mr John Major wrote. If one really wants to have a go at John Major, one should have a go at him for the Edinburgh summit, at which he was so lackadaisical that he allowed his signature to be appended to a decision which bound us legally to having 12 sessions of the European Parliament in Strasbourg at great expense to the taxpayer and at great detriment to the European Parliament’s effectiveness. However, I say that as an aside. I wanted to help the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, with his concern about the integrity of the European Court of Justice. Following the injunction from my noble friend the Leader of the House by quoting only from good House of Lords sources, I point out to him that paragraph 121 of the report of the Constitution Committee of your Lordships' House contains a clear quotation from Professor Alan Dashwood, who gave evidence to it. He said that he was, "““not aware of changes envisaged by the [Lisbon Treaty] that would significantly alter the existing relationship between UK courts and the European judicature, which has always been a model of cooperation and mutual respect””." I am sure that it pacifies the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, that that is the judgment of so distinguished a jurist as Professor Dashwood. I will not labour the point before the Committee; the noble Lord can read on himself in paragraphs 122, 123 and 124, which contain the conclusions of the Constitution Committee.