European Affairs

I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman has corrected the record. I do not quite know how people can abstain on climate change, but there may be some wonderful explanation in due course. Another area in which the EU has a credible record is international development. When we go out into the field, we see that there is greater co-operation between the nation states of Europe. I have sometimes criticised some of them for not paying the contribution that they should have done, particularly for provision in the country that I care most about, the Sudan. However, it makes sense that we have international relationships so that by pooling our budgets and expertise, we can make more of a contribution on the ground. I turn to matters on which I am far less optimistic than my hon. Friend the Member for Luton, North. I shall be quite brutal on the non-referendums. The "cast-iron guarantee" of the Conservatives, which was nothing more than words, and what has happened with my own party and the Liberal Democrats, show why the British electorate have no faith in any of us when it comes to Europe. Each of our parties in turn has let them down. We promised them a referendum and have reneged on it. Anyone who thinks that that has been forgotten about forgets the European elections in May, in which the electorate gave us a kicking—particularly my party, whose policies and position on Europe are anything but credible. They will not forget it at the next general election. That is why some of us will not be standing on a platform other than to say, "It will not be a question of a referendum on Lisbon; it will be a question of a referendum on in or out."