European Union (Amendment) Bill

Does the noble Lord accept the view of his former senior colleague in government in the other place, Kenneth Clarke, speaking in the debate on the Bill in the Commons at a similar stage? He referred to Mr Heathcoat-Amory’s comments that the passerelles had been in existence before: "““He has rightly reminded us that the passerelle mechanism is not new; it has been in force for years and years. Does he recall that in the Maastricht debates people were raising all kinds of fears about the way in which it would be used to take away our sovereignty by stealth? Does he accept that that has not happened? Why does he think that it is suddenly going to happen now?””.—[Official Report, 4/3/08; col. 1620.]"