European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord has just made a speech that encapsulates why some of us object to the future of the European president being left to evolution within the European Union without the possibility of Parliament in this country being able to stop each one of those stages as the powers of the president move forward. I would like to support the amendment, but obviously it does not go far enough. If we are just going to be given a statement once a year from the Secretary of State telling us what has happened—somewhat inaccurately, I suggest, and somewhat low profile to what is really going on—it will not be enough. I point out to your Lordships—and I ask the Minister to disagree, if she does—that this will be yet another important instance where the octopus in Brussels gets a tentacle around the remains of our diminishing sovereignty. I speak with lukewarm support for the amendment and attempt to warn your Lordships of the inevitable progress of the ratchet of the salami slicer towards the European megastate that many of us fear.