European Union (Amendment) Bill

That is a very good point but the Scottish fishermen could not care less under what policy it happened. The fact is that the Government and Parliament tried to protect them from the depredations by the Spanish fishermen but were told by the European Court that they were acting illegally. Indeed, I think that they had to pay £200 million-worth of compensation to the Spanish fishermen—money that would have been better in Scottish rather than Spanish pockets, as these were, after all, fish that the Scottish fishermen had previously owned, so to speak. To date, the whole policy has been one of squandermania of our fishing resources, undermining this country’s fishing industry and hurting the livelihoods of our very good fishermen, not only in Scotland but throughout the United Kingdom. A lot of decent, good people burnt their boats because they were no longer required, as they could no longer fish in the waters where they had traditionally fished. I am coming to an end but I should like to say something to the Conservative Front Bench. The Conservatives once had a very good idea. They said that the common fisheries policy was bad for our fishing industry and that when they got into government they would withdraw from it. Unfortunately, having said that they would withdraw from the policy, they then withdrew from that promise. If they examined the matter again and said, ““In spite of this treaty and in spite of what the article says, if we get back to power””—they can get back to power if they have the right policies—““we are going to take back our fishing waters””, that would be very popular; I assure them that it would help the Conservatives a great deal in the south-west of England. I do not expect a reply tonight of course but I think that it is something on which the Conservatives should reflect.