UK Parliament / Open data

European Union (Amendment) Bill

Debate on bills on Monday, 21 January 2008, in the House of Commons, led by David Miliband. The answering member was Lord Hague of Richmond.
European Union (Amendment) Bill. Second reading debate. Agreed to on division (362 to 224) and committed to a Committee of the whole House.
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
470 c1239-324 
Session
2007-08
Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Legislative stage
Second reading
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
European Union (Amendment) Bill. (Explanatory note Bill 48-EN published).
Monday, 17 December 2007
Bills
House of Commons
Foreign policy aspects of the Lisbon Treaty. Foreign Affairs Select Committee third report in 2 volumes with proceedings, evidence (HC 16 ii-iv 2006-07 not printed separately) and appendices.
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) Order. Even though these are extremely serious matters, we should temper our language when we make c...
Speaker | 470 c1263 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind all right hon. and hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed an eight-minute limit o...

Show all contributions (280)
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 470 c1279-80 (Link to this contribution) I am in favour of the ratification of the treaty of Lisbon, so I shall be supporting the Second Read...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1278-9 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, and that leads on to the referendum. When our then Prime Minister promised a referendum in 2...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 470 c1280 (Link to this contribution) Surely my right hon. and learned Friend can have no principled objection to a referendum, because he...
Malcolm Rifkind | 470 c1275-6 (Link to this contribution) It is right that there should be great passion in the House about Europe because Europe and Britain'...
Michael Connarty | 470 c1274-5 (Link to this contribution) No. I shall not take another intervention, as I am conscious that people want to speak. I have aske...
Malcolm Rifkind | 470 c1277 (Link to this contribution) I accept that it is an opt-in, but that has—or is claimed to have—the same practical effect on the f...
Michael Connarty | 470 c1276 (Link to this contribution) If the right hon. and learned Gentleman refers to the evidence that the Foreign Secretary gave to ou...
Kelvin Hopkins | 470 c1278 (Link to this contribution) I agree with what my hon. Friend has been saying. Does she agree that that disengagement is potentia...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1277-8 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the right hon. and learned Member for Kensington and Chelsea (Sir Malcolm Rif...
Michael Connarty | 470 c1273-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall come to that. It is part of the main points with which I want to conclude. Those are interes...
Angus Robertson | 470 c1273 (Link to this contribution) As a fellow member of the European Scrutiny Committee, I am grateful to the Chairman for allowing an...
Michael Connarty | 470 c1272-3 (Link to this contribution) The process that seems to have been generated tonight has added a number of things to the debate tha...
Ed Davey | 470 c1271-2 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman failed to deal with my point that the constitutional treaty would have crea...
Ian Davidson | 470 c1271 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
David Heathcoat-Amory | 470 c1271 (Link to this contribution) Surely treaties should be judged by their practical and legal effect. That is why two Select Committ...
Ed Davey | 470 c1271 (Link to this contribution) The biggest difference in content undoubtedly concerns justice and home affairs. By securing an opt-...
Speaker | 470 c1271 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman clearly is not prepared to give way at this moment.
Ed Davey | 470 c1271 (Link to this contribution) The biggest difference of detail—
Roger Godsiff | 470 c1309 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a good, valid point. It has been suggested that, unless we adopt the...
John Hayes | 470 c1310 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a persuasive case. Does he agree that the difference in this debate is ...
Mark Francois | 470 c1312 (Link to this contribution) In a moment. Just in case any Members of the House have not had the opportunity to read through all...
Mark Hendrick | 470 c1312 (Link to this contribution) I promised a referendum on a constitutional treaty, not on an amending treaty. In my contribution, I...
Roger Godsiff | 470 c1310 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes his points powerfully and I shall make a further comment about that in a fe...
Ian Taylor | 470 c1310-1 (Link to this contribution) I have only a few minutes, so I will be brief. As I have never supported the concept of referendums,...
Mark Francois | 470 c1311-2 (Link to this contribution) This has been a lively and at times passionate debate, in which we have had, I think, 22 speeches fr...
Mark Hendrick | 470 c1312 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mike Gapes | 470 c1312-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has referred to what he described as the Labour-led Foreign Affairs Committee, an...
Mark Francois | 470 c1312 (Link to this contribution) I see that the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee wants to intervene, but he will have to bea...
Daniel Kawczynski | 470 c1313 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned Bob Crowe. He will be aware that the TUC has passed resolutions in favour o...
Mark Francois | 470 c1314-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has pre-empted me. I will come to the trade unions in a moment. The Government have ...
Mark Francois | 470 c1313 (Link to this contribution) A trade union leader—[Laughter.] Hang on. A trade union leader, who is not exactly a regular dining ...
John Redwood | 470 c1316 (Link to this contribution) The one thing that we are told is different about the treaty as opposed to the constitution is that ...
Jim Murphy | 470 c1316-7 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman had his opportunity earlier this evening, when he forgot to explain to the ...
Jim Murphy | 470 c1317 (Link to this contribution) I wish to make a bit of progress. The treaty makes some sensible improvements, such as bringing an e...
Greg Hands | 470 c1317 (Link to this contribution) May I ask the Minister a question about the charter of fundamental rights? He may recall that Tony B...
Jim Murphy | 470 c1317 (Link to this contribution) The charter records existing rights; it does not create new rights. It is clear that the UK does not...
John Baron | 470 c1317 (Link to this contribution) During the debate, it was suggested that the treaty contains provisions to allow powers to be repatr...
Jim Murphy | 470 c1317 (Link to this contribution) What is clear is that we have an opportunity this evening to vote for a Bill that gives more powers ...
Jim Murphy | 470 c1318 (Link to this contribution) I give way for the last time, but then I must make some progress in the eight minutes that are left....
Jim Murphy | 470 c1318 (Link to this contribution) May I make some progress? There is only a short time available. There are a number of sensible and ...
John Hayes | 470 c1318 (Link to this contribution) The Minister makes an holistic if unconvincing case for pan-European government. His argument so far...
Jim Murphy | 470 c1318 (Link to this contribution) The treaty is different in legal consequence, legal substance and legal structure. Across Europe, ni...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1318 (Link to this contribution) Could it be that the eight countries that promised a referendum on the constitution but will not hol...
Jim Murphy | 470 c1318-20 (Link to this contribution) That is not the case at all. The fact is that the Dutch Council of State, for example—an independent...
Charles Kennedy | 470 c1289-91 (Link to this contribution) Even I, in my parliamentary and leadership dotage, can recognise that as not being a very good deal ...
Ian Davidson | 470 c1289 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman, but surely he was guilty of gross exaggeration when he suggested t...
Kelvin Hopkins | 470 c1291 (Link to this contribution) The old Conservative party that I remember got us into the EU or Common Market in the first place, a...
Doug Henderson | 470 c1291 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr. Davey), spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, referred...
Charles Kennedy | 470 c1289 (Link to this contribution) I am very short of time, but I like the hon. Gentleman. He is good entertainment value, and we will ...
Ian Davidson | 470 c1289 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Doug Henderson | 470 c1291 (Link to this contribution) I remember an older Conservative party that was colonialist and imperialist and wanted to impose lit...
Doug Henderson | 470 c1292-3 (Link to this contribution) I think I have given way enough, as I know that other Members wish to speak. Let us take the test o...
Austin Mitchell | 470 c1296-7 (Link to this contribution) I will not even try to follow the speech of the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash)—I could not—but if ...
William Cash | 470 c1294-6 (Link to this contribution) I certainly believe that we must renegotiate the treaties. This treaty is more important than the M...
Bob Spink | 470 c1294 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend referred to an avalanche of EU law. I wonder whether he is aware of this quote from J...
Elliot Morley | 470 c1293 (Link to this contribution) I do not think it fair to say that there is nothing of benefit in this treaty. The House has heard, ...
William Cash | 470 c1293 (Link to this contribution) When the Second Reading goes through tonight, as we assume it probably will, the European caravan wi...
Austin Mitchell | 470 c1298 (Link to this contribution) I would rather not give way, because I am inevitably grinding slowly to a conclusion. It is true th...
Graham Stringer | 470 c1300-1 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Member for Kensington and Chelsea (Sir Malcolm Rifkind) defined the debat...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 470 c1298-300 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) correctly identified one of the issues at the heart...
Graham Stringer | 470 c1301-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree that there is dissatisfaction about Europe, and I agree with the former leader of the hon. L...
Jo Swinson | 470 c1301 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's generosity in giving way—unlike the hon. Member for Great Grimsby ...
Speaker | 470 c1302 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next hon. Member, may I say that as an awful lot of hon. Members are still ...
Daniel Kawczynski | 470 c1305 (Link to this contribution) The person to whom the hon. Gentleman refers is the Minister for Europe, who, in interviews with the...
Speaker | 470 c1306 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is customary in the House to refer to hon. Gentlemen by their constituencies, not by their...
Daniel Kawczynski | 470 c1308 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
John Redwood | 470 c1307-8 (Link to this contribution) If the motion is passed, it will be a bad day for trust in British politics and for those of us who ...
Ian Davidson | 470 c1306 (Link to this contribution) I will try to pronounce the word adequately next time. I am sure that many of my colleagues do not u...
Speaker | 470 c1306 (Link to this contribution) Order. I will not ask the hon. Gentleman to withdraw his remarks, but he should remember that there ...
Roger Godsiff | 470 c1308-9 (Link to this contribution) I hope the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, but time is pressing. Astrid Thors, the Finnish Foreign ...
John Hayes | 470 c1308 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Roger Godsiff | 470 c1308 (Link to this contribution) Like other right hon. and hon. Members, I supported the Labour party's 2005 manifesto commitment to ...
John Redwood | 470 c1308 (Link to this contribution) I will not, because other hon. Members wish to speak. I urge the House tonight not to surrender tho...
Ian Davidson | 470 c1306 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but I was not sure whether he was the same person. I should refer to...
Mark Hendrick | 470 c1285-6 (Link to this contribution) The reform treaty is not about making the European Union more powerful or creating a European state;...
Lord Bannside | 470 c1284-5 (Link to this contribution) I wish I could answer yes to that, but I cannot because there are some money limitations and we do n...
John Redwood | 470 c1284 (Link to this contribution) Given that the devolved Governments of Northern Ireland and of Scotland wish to have this referendum...
Mark Hendrick | 470 c1286 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) answered that point earlier, in that i...
Daniel Kawczynski | 470 c1286 (Link to this contribution) What consideration has the hon. Gentleman given to serious concerns about the treaty expressed by th...
Frank Cook | 470 c1283-4 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I should remind the House that although I am a simple soul, I am not stupid. I was soft enou...
Lord Bannside | 470 c1284 (Link to this contribution) I was thinking earlier of the night I sat here when the United Kingdom joined the European Union, or...
Lord Deben | 470 c1280 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. and learned Friend not agree that, had the Lisbon treaty been negotiated by the r...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 470 c1280-2 (Link to this contribution) I regret having to turn my back on one of my oldest personal friends in the House. I agree with him ...
Mark Hendrick | 470 c1287-8 (Link to this contribution) I shall not give way further. It is worth remembering that the UK is a member of the EU because, in...
Greg Hands | 470 c1288 (Link to this contribution) Before the right hon. Gentleman leaves the subject of party politics, will he be helpful and give us...
Charles Kennedy | 470 c1288 (Link to this contribution) For some of us, this debate and what it presages impart a degree of nostalgia. Those of us who went ...
Charles Kennedy | 470 c1288-9 (Link to this contribution) The experience of all political parties suggests that when former leaders are asked to interpret pol...
Kelvin Hopkins | 470 c1286 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has just rather dismissed the view of the trade unions. Is he not aware that the TUC ...
Mark Hendrick | 470 c1286 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend knows very well that the unions are now on board with the treaty and do not oppose it...
Angus Robertson | 470 c1286 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the EU reform treaty enshrines fisheries as an exclusive compe...
Mark Hendrick | 470 c1287 (Link to this contribution) There is no change. The situation is as it is now—[Interruption.] I must continue; the hon. Gentlema...
David Miliband | 470 c1239 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second Time. The Bill will give effect in United Kingdom...
John Redwood | 470 c1239 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
David Miliband | 470 c1239-40 (Link to this contribution) Just let me set out my argument. This treaty is unique, however, in one regard. It marks the end of...
John Redwood | 470 c1240 (Link to this contribution) Why will the Secretary of State not give us a referendum, given that his party promised one and that...
David Miliband | 470 c1240 (Link to this contribution) For the same reason that the right hon. Gentleman voted against a referendum on the Maastricht treat...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 470 c1240 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary might find himself alone in holding that point of view. May I ask him a simple...
David Miliband | 470 c1240 (Link to this contribution) There is a political commitment from every single leader of the European Union that, for the foresee...
Lord Lilley | 470 c1240 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary now cut to the chase and spell out the specific transfers of power in the...
David Miliband | 470 c1240 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman will get details of specific powers and of how this is a different treaty i...
Lord Field of Birkenhead | 470 c1240 (Link to this contribution) A number of Committees of this House have reported that there is no substantial difference between w...
Speaker | 470 c1239 (Link to this contribution) I must inform the House that Mr. Speaker has decided not to select the reasoned amendment standing i...
Speaker | 470 c1241 (Link to this contribution) Order. These are very serious matters and I am sure that the House will bear that in mind as we cont...
David Miliband | 470 c1241 (Link to this contribution) As I was saying, One World Action, Action Aid and Oxfam have announced their support for the measure...
David Miliband | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give way to the former Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal ...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1241 (Link to this contribution) The specialist Committees that reported and did not mention whether there should be a referendum did...
David Miliband | 470 c1240-1 (Link to this contribution) I take my right hon. Friend's position on this matter very seriously. If he looks at the minutes of ...
David Miliband | 470 c1241 (Link to this contribution) Let me make some progress. Left of centre parties in all 27 European countries support the treaty; ...
David Miliband | 470 c1241 (Link to this contribution) Not at all. As my hon. Friend knows, the increased role of national parliaments is an important feat...
Doug Henderson | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) When all the politics is cut aside, is it not clear that the main difference between the constitutio...
David Miliband | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, which speaks directly to the fact that this treaty brings p...
David Miliband | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) I happily give way to a former Minister for Europe.
David Miliband | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) The real issue is the content of the treaty; and in its structure and consequence, as well as its co...
Tom Levitt | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend was absolutely right to point out that voluntary organisations support the trea...
David Miliband | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) Every right hon. and hon. Member should be listened to on this issue in this Parliament. This is the...
Lord Bannside | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) May I ask the Foreign Secretary to answer one simple question? He has listed many people who are for...
Lord Cormack | 470 c1244 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In view of the contempt with which the Foreign Secretary is...
Malcolm Rifkind | 470 c1243 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has said now on two occasions that the only basis for a referendum would be...
David Miliband | 470 c1243 (Link to this contribution) The former Prime Minister addressed the matter directly in his statement from the Dispatch Box, when...
David Miliband | 470 c1243-4 (Link to this contribution) I must make progress, but I shall try to give way to right hon. and hon. Members in due course. The...
David Miliband | 470 c1244 (Link to this contribution) I will make some progress. [Interruption.]
David Miliband | 470 c1242-3 (Link to this contribution) When I say, as my hon. Friend does, that the treaty is different in structure, it is because the pro...
Philip Davies | 470 c1243 (Link to this contribution) If this treaty is such a marvellous thing for this country, why will the Secretary of State not have...
David Miliband | 470 c1243 (Link to this contribution) We have heard the authentic voice of the modern Tory party. The hon. Gentleman is a leading member o...
David Miliband | 470 c1243 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way for the last time to the former Foreign Secretary.
Lord Maples | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
Speaker | 470 c1244 (Link to this contribution) The House will understand if I say that that is a matter for debate rather than a matter for the Cha...
Gordon Banks | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) A moment ago, the Foreign Secretary mentioned the changes to qualified majority voting in the treaty...
David Miliband | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) I certainly will. In respect of development, energy liberalisation and development aid, this is prec...
William Cash | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary says that there is no fundamental change. How can he claim that there is no fu...
David Miliband | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) There is simply no credibility in the suggestion that with the continued separate treaty for foreign...
David Miliband | 470 c1244 (Link to this contribution) No, I will be happy to give way to the hon. Gentleman later. Clause 3 clarifies the terminology rel...
David Miliband | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) I said that I would give way to the hon. Member for Stone, and I am happy to do so.
David Miliband | 470 c1244 (Link to this contribution) Let me go through the clauses of the Bill. [Interruption.] I will be happy to give way later. Claus...
William Cash | 470 c1244 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
David Miliband | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the former foreign affairs spokesman.
Lord Maples | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) The question in which people are interested is whether there should be a referendum or not. The only...
David Miliband | 470 c1245 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has quoted a very partial part—[Interruption.] The European Scrutiny Committee di...
Bob Spink | 470 c1246 (Link to this contribution) May I give the Foreign Secretary a quotation that he may recognise? It comes from the architect of t...
David Miliband | 470 c1246 (Link to this contribution) Listen to what Giscard d'Estaing—the same former president—said five days ago. He said:"““The reques...
David Miliband | 470 c1246 (Link to this contribution) As one who was a junior Minister toiling in the Department for Education and Skills at the time, I c...
Lord Blunkett | 470 c1246 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that the European Scrutiny Committee report and the original words ...
David Miliband | 470 c1246 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes an important point. This is a different treaty for Britain than it is for...
David Miliband | 470 c1246-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall certainly try to bring in the right hon. Gentleman later. The Government want Europe's nati...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 470 c1248 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Foreign Secretary for doing so. Since he has dismissed the European Scrutiny Committee c...
David Miliband | 470 c1248 (Link to this contribution) The Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee is present, so he will be able to confirm that it sa...
David Miliband | 470 c1247 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman when I reach the end of this section of my speech. The ...
David Miliband | 470 c1248 (Link to this contribution) That was agreed by the right hon. Gentleman, who voted against a referendum on Maastricht as deputy ...
David Miliband | 470 c1248 (Link to this contribution) I have addressed one point. The right hon. Gentleman asked me two questions, so I want to address th...
Bernard Jenkin | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
David Miliband | 470 c1252-3 (Link to this contribution) No. The consequence of Conservative policy is not to end institutional wrangling, not to help Europ...
John Baron | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
David Miliband | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) No. The Leader of the Opposition and the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks have said that if th...
John Baron | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
David Miliband | 470 c1253 (Link to this contribution) No. Only this weekend, the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks said that he thinks that"““there i...
John Baron | 470 c1253 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
William Cash | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The Foreign Secretary has just referred to the fact that he...
David Miliband | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised to have to say this to the hon. Gentleman: the answer is because it is in the House t...
Lord Cormack | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Foreign Secretary, especially for giving way to me so soon after he g...
David Miliband | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend puts an important question. I was discussing issues about the middle east and Russia ...
Chris Bryant | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) Is it not true that in a dangerous world, which is insecure for many people, it is more important th...
David Miliband | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman looks at the origins of the document and at its preamble he will see a referen...
David Miliband | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) No. Mr. Deputy Speaker,"““The myth that we are threatened with a European superstate is still nouri...
John Baron | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
David Miliband | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) In respect of the structure and content of the treaty, I have set out how it is different. In conseq...
Speaker | 470 c1252 (Link to this contribution) Again, I suspect that is a matter for debate carefully—or not so carefully—disguised as a point of o...
Angela C Smith | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) History, if nothing else, teaches us of the importance of a united Europe. Does my right hon. Friend...
David Miliband | 470 c1250 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises an important point about the priorities that should confront us. Those are not...
David Miliband | 470 c1250 (Link to this contribution) I will give way in a moment when I reach the end of this section of my speech. An explicit treaty p...
Lord Cormack | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Chris Bryant | 470 c1250 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
David Miliband | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) I promised that I would give way to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski). I...
Daniel Kawczynski | 470 c1251 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Foreign Secretary for giving way. At the beginning of his speech, he ...
David Miliband | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been trying to get in for some time, so it is only fair that I give way.
David Miliband | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) In keeping with his reputation in this House, my hon. Friend has read the details of the treaty and ...
Rob Marris | 470 c1248-9 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend share my surprise that those who demand a referendum as a cover for their ...
Speaker | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I say to both sides of the House that hon. Members should treat each other with some cour...
Lord Robathan | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) I will certainly withdraw it, although I must say that my mother lost her first husband in the secon...
Lord Robathan | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary is doing a good job of saying that black is white in a rant of propaganda that...
David Miliband | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) It is through the elections to this House that people will be able to decide their view on the diffe...
Lord Robathan | 470 c1249 (Link to this contribution) My point was that the Foreign Secretary and all the hon. Members sitting behind him must go back to ...
Gerald Kaufman | 470 c1257 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman referred to promises made in general elections. Does he remember that he le...
Gerald Kaufman | 470 c1257 (Link to this contribution) I repeat: is it not a fact that the pound remains safe today because the right hon. Member for Richm...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1257 (Link to this contribution) I see that a Liberal Democrat flagship has put to sea.
Ed Davey | 470 c1257 (Link to this contribution) There was a vote on that question, through an amendment to the Queen's Speech, but the Conservative ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1257 (Link to this contribution) The fact that the Conservative party voted in line with its policy at the end of debate on the Queen...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1257 (Link to this contribution) I promised to give way to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman), so I mu...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1258-9 (Link to this contribution) No, I must proceed, in fairness to the rest of the House, at least for a little while. It is surpri...
William Cash | 470 c1259 (Link to this contribution) Would my right hon. Friend be interested to know that, as I understand it, the legal adviser to the ...
Lord Blunkett | 470 c1258 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1258 (Link to this contribution) It will be hugely cheering for the Liberal Democrat party that somebody somewhere agrees with part o...
Lord Field of Birkenhead | 470 c1257-8 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps it will help the Liberals to nail their colours to the mast if I say that their proposal is ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1258 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman gives me the cue to carry on with my analysis of the treaty and the Bill, b...
Lord Blunkett | 470 c1258 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for a very entertaining speech, but surely any Opposition ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1258 (Link to this contribution) I must make some progress in a minute, but of course I give way to the right hon. Gentleman.
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1255 (Link to this contribution) I will give way in a moment. Astonishingly, the treaty will also weaken one of the greatest strengt...
Ann Clwyd | 470 c1255 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman therefore regret opposing a referendum on the Maastricht treaty?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1255 (Link to this contribution) I will tell the right hon. Lady the difference between then and now. Then—
Hugh Bayley | 470 c1254 (Link to this contribution) Is it not fundamentally misleading for the right hon. Gentleman—[Interruption]— and his party to tel...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1253-4 (Link to this contribution) It is all too typical of the Government's management of our affairs that the House of Commons has be...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1254-5 (Link to this contribution) It is hugely encouraging that Labour Members' minds are increasingly concentrated on the advent of a...
David Miliband | 470 c1253 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is in the Chamber. Excellent. I welcome him—he usually sits immediately behind th...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1256 (Link to this contribution) I see that we have flushed a Liberal Democrat to his feet.
Jeremy Browne | 470 c1256 (Link to this contribution) In 18 years in government, the Conservatives never once had a referendum on Europe. The last time th...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1256 (Link to this contribution) Of course I will give way to the right hon. Gentleman, in a few moments. Today in our country, the ...
Gerald Kaufman | 470 c1256 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1256 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes a powerful point, because the case for the referendum rests above all on ...
John Redwood | 470 c1256 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend further remember that during the 2005 election, when some of us said that ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1255 (Link to this contribution) That was a difference—something of which Liberal Democrats can only dream—but of course, for the pur...
Ed Davey | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been true to his word throughout, because he has voted with the Liberal Democ...
Ed Davey | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) No. What all those examples illustrate is the continuing problem of the modern Conservative party—s...
Daniel Kawczynski | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The role of Opposition parties is clearly to oppose the G...
Speaker | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) Order. That is not a point of order for the Chair. The hon. Gentleman may well have the opportunity ...
Ed Davey | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) Let us remember that the hon. Gentleman voted against a referendum on Britain's membership of the Eu...
Jeremy Browne | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atc...
Greg Hands | 470 c1267 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Ed Davey | 470 c1267-8 (Link to this contribution) No, I want to make a little progress. Liberal Democrats argued during the parliamentary scrutiny of...
Richard Shepherd | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is so confident about the arguments that he advances, why does he not get conf...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1270 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman believes that the treaty is so good and so incredibly defensible—at one stage ...
Ed Davey | 470 c1270 (Link to this contribution) Because, unlike the hon. Lady, I think that the constitutional treaty is rather more significant tha...
Geraldine Smith | 470 c1269 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a number of positive points about the treaty. I support it because it will ...
Ed Davey | 470 c1269-70 (Link to this contribution) I totally agree with the hon. Lady. She has made a case for the Liberal Democrat position on a refer...
Bernard Jenkin | 470 c1270 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. We all know why the Liberal Democrats have adopt...
Ed Davey | 470 c1270 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman had had the guts to vote with his colleagues for our amendment in the debate o...
Greg Hands | 470 c1269 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Ed Davey | 470 c1269 (Link to this contribution) No. The problem for the Conservatives is that by opposing yet another sensible European treaty, the...
Speaker | 470 c1268 (Link to this contribution) Order. I did not hear the hon. Gentleman use that expression, but there is a considerable undercurre...
Ed Davey | 470 c1269 (Link to this contribution) For the third time, I will try to quote Senator John McCain. He observed that he hoped the Conservat...
Ed Davey | 470 c1265-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mike Gapes) and his Committee have given an analysis that confirm...
Mike Gapes | 470 c1263-4 (Link to this contribution) I want to confine my remarks entirely to the foreign affairs aspects of the treaty. In the past day,...
Mike Gapes | 470 c1264-5 (Link to this contribution) No. I have only eight minutes and I want to make some progress. Paragraph 220 states:"““the creatio...
Hugh Bayley | 470 c1261 (Link to this contribution) Because of the nature of interventions, I cannot pick out more than one of the right hon. Gentleman'...
Angus Robertson | 470 c1263 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1263 (Link to this contribution) No, I shall not give way any more; I am coming to the end of my speech. All of us must remember tha...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1260-1 (Link to this contribution) That just shows that the Government have a case to answer. The implications of what my hon. Friend s...
Speaker | 470 c1267 (Link to this contribution) The point in question is a matter for debate rather than a matter for the Chair.
Ed Davey | 470 c1267 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Ms Stuart) checks the voting record on 30 March 2004, ...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1266 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. If a Member is accused of having taken a particular posit...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1266 (Link to this contribution) I would be grateful if the hon. Gentleman could help me, because I am getting slightly confused. We ...
Ed Davey | 470 c1266 (Link to this contribution) Many people in the EU and in this House believe that we need a treaty to try to ensure that the enla...
John Redwood | 470 c1266 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman tell us whether his party is going to rat on its promise of a referendum by ...
Ed Davey | 470 c1266 (Link to this contribution) We are proposing a referendum—on Britain's membership of the European Union. I will deal with the qu...
Mark Francois | 470 c1313 (Link to this contribution) I refer the hon. Gentleman to his own report, which discusses elements of the document and says that...
Austin Mitchell | 470 c1297-8 (Link to this contribution) It would be honest to say that we do not want a referendum because we fear that we would lose. We sh...
David Curry | 470 c1302-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall vote for the Bill and the treaty tonight. It is always a difficult matter to find oneself in...
Ian Davidson | 470 c1305-6 (Link to this contribution) Gosh, that is an interesting point, which will now be noted in Hansard. On balance, I find myself a...
Ian Davidson | 470 c1304-5 (Link to this contribution) Obviously, I rise with some disappointment about the fact that my amendment was not put before the H...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1257 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that we will work out that question in the end. Yes, the Conservative Government did enter...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1261-3 (Link to this contribution) The former Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, stood at the Dispatch Box and told the House of Commons t...
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston | 470 c1274 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend give way on that point?
Jim Murphy | 470 c1316 (Link to this contribution) Today's proceedings have been the start of a long debate. I am looking forward to spending more time...
William Cash | 470 c1293-4 (Link to this contribution) It is because the issue of principle, for me at any rate, on this Second Reading is whether the arti...
David Miliband | 470 c1241 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to right hon. and hon. Members after I have made my point. Environmental organisati...
David Miliband | 470 c1241 (Link to this contribution) No, I am going to make the point. The NSPCC pledged its support, as have One World Action, Action Ai...
Lord Deben | 470 c1242 (Link to this contribution) Would not the Government be in a much stronger position to defend a treaty to which many of us find ...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 470 c1246 (Link to this contribution) Does the Foreign Secretary not accept that he could save himself all this theological nonsense of tr...
David Miliband | 470 c1247-8 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to Members when I reach the end of this section, and I shall start with the right h...
Nia Griffith | 470 c1258 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 470 c1256-7 (Link to this contribution) That is apparently the Liberal Democrats' position, and they tried to put it in a reasoned amendment...
Ed Davey | 470 c1266 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has voted in this House against a referendum on the constitutional treaty.
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 470 c1280 (Link to this contribution) I can reassure my right hon. Friend that I personally regard myself as bound by the commitment, whic...
John Redwood | 470 c1309 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that one of the problems is that more matters will come under the Eur...
David Miliband | 470 c1250 (Link to this contribution) I shall make some progress and then, as always, I shall come back to the hon. Gentleman in due cours...
Subjects
Children's rights
Competition
Development aid
Environment protection
EU withdrawal
EU enlargement
European Union
Law
European communities
EU common foreign and security policy
Electoral systems
EU institutions
EU internal relations
Referendums
Parliament
Social security
Sovereignty
Treaties
Reform
Taxation
Treaty on European Union
UK membership of EU
European Commission
European Court of Justice
European Council
Treaty of Lisbon
EU presidency
Legislation
European Union (Amendment) Bill 2007-08
Link
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