European Union (Amendment) Bill

Happiness is relative. I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her response. I am particularly grateful to my noble friend Lord Lamont for pointing out once again that there is some evidence that Governments are resisting the Commission’s competition policy. He instanced in particular France and Spain, and a number of my other noble friends have given other examples. I certainly agree with my noble friend Lord Blackwell that we are probably looking at more than a missed opportunity—it is an indication that things are moving in the wrong direction. My noble friend Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville told us about the Napoleonic war, which the noble Baroness referred to as ““a classical education””. It was a classic example of exactly what we have been talking about; I agree with that. My noble friend Lord Forsyth instanced a number of questions that were aimed really at the Liberal Democrat Benches, and I shall come to that in a moment. To the noble Lord, Lord Radice, I shall say just this. Without going into great detail, there is some evidence that the European Court has questioned the validity of protocols. That is why one is cautious about putting one’s faith into the changes that have taken place.