European Affairs

I apologise for not hearing the beginning of the hon. Gentleman's clearly uncontroversial speech. He has referred to separate groups. Would he care to explain how the following comes about? In the Council of Europe, the British Conservatives are in a group of their own. While it was the third largest—and bigger than the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe—it was very successful and made a great impact. Very recently, the hon. Gentleman's party overtook us by one or two members, but before that we had more members, notwithstanding what he has said about separate groups. He has spoken of bedfellows. Would he care to comment on why his party overtook us, and how it manages to justify the fact that a large number of Ukrainians—those great champions of democracy and human rights—have joined its group?