European Union (Amendment) Bill

I would like to intervene briefly, particularly following the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, who seemed to say, ““Yes, the common fisheries policy is not working at all but we have to retain it””. That seems a rather odd position to be in. I remember being on the Environment and Agriculture Sub-Committee, Sub-Committee D. We studied the common fisheries policy on several occasions. I remember members of the committee and the Opposition making passionate speeches about how dreadful the policy was. We had evidence from fishermen whose livelihoods were being taken away from them by the provisions of the common fisheries policy. I think that everyone agreed about it then, as they seem to now. The noble Duke who moved the amendment made that clear. I was shocked to hear that discards seem to have gone up rather than down during the intervening period. I think that the general discards are something like 60 per cent of the total catch and I cannot believe that the Government believe in retaining or pursuing a policy where 60 per cent of the catch is thrown overboard or, as was said, where 5 tonnes are discarded for every one sold. That seems to be an absolute monstrosity. Yet this policy is supported. It is not working but we do not want to change it, according to the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, because it is all part of the treaties and we should not have given it away anyway. Of course, I agree that we certainly should not have given our fisheries away. We managed them perfectly well before we handed them over to the European Union and, of course, countries manage their fisheries individually far better than the Union is able to do. Examples include Norway, Iceland and even Namibia, as well as New Zealand and Canada. They can manage their fisheries in an exemplary—