UK Parliament / Open data

Treaty of Lisbon (No. 6)

Debates on treaty on Monday, 25 February 2008, in the House of Commons, led by Douglas Alexander. The answering member was Andrew Mitchell.
Debate on a motion to approve the Lisbon Treaty (Cm 7294). Provisions concerning international development. Sixth day debate. Amendment negatived on division (153 to 341). Main question agreed on division (342 to 154).
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
472 c767-841 
Session
2007-08
Department
Department for International Development
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty establishing the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, including the Protocols and Final Act with Declarations. (Lisbon 2007).
Monday, 17 December 2007
Command papers
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 472 c794 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has placed a 12-minute limit on Back Benchers' speeche...
Tony Baldry | 472 c795 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I are of one mind on this issue, but what I do not understand about that argu...

Show all contributions (161)
Hugh Bayley | 472 c794-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that no treaty is needed to fight poverty, but there was no treaty requireme...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c794 (Link to this contribution) There is a fundamental flaw at the heart of the hon. Gentleman's argument. We embrace his points abo...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c794 (Link to this contribution) One of the Labour Government's great achievements has been to make poverty alleviation the primary g...
Michael Moore | 472 c797-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a real pleasure and privilege to follow the hon. Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley). As he ...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c795-7 (Link to this contribution) I share with the hon. Gentleman a firm belief that reducing corruption in developing countries would...
William Cash | 472 c795 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I have worked together on a number of matters relating to the eradication of ...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c795 (Link to this contribution) The current situation is as the hon. Gentleman outlined. Some of the biggest recipients of aid from ...
John Redwood | 472 c798 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that democratic consent is needed for that to be effective? If I were ...
Michael Moore | 472 c798 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is assiduous in attending these events and I am delighted that he joined us...
William Cash | 472 c798 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes much of the moral and ethical dimension, on which I agree with him entirely...
Gary Streeter | 472 c800 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. He is experienced in foreign affairs, and he has see...
Michael Moore | 472 c798-800 (Link to this contribution) For once, I am at a loss to find a reason to disagree with the hon. Gentleman. I think he is absolut...
Tony Baldry | 472 c800 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman not concerned that under this treaty EU aid development policy will become sub...
Judy Mallaber | 472 c801-2 (Link to this contribution) I think I am the only Member of Parliament whose constituency borders those of two Chief Whips—my ri...
Michael Moore | 472 c800-1 (Link to this contribution) I do not share the hon. Gentleman's concerns, but may I pay tribute to him on the expertise that he ...
Judy Mallaber | 472 c802-4 (Link to this contribution) I had better move on to the substance of the debate. I welcome the changes embodied in the treaty b...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c802 (Link to this contribution) I assure the hon. Lady that nothing could so traduce the reputation of a Chief Whip as to be called ...
Gary Streeter | 472 c804 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Lady's thoughtful speech. What is there in the treaty that will...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c770 (Link to this contribution) Whether it has been the work of Neil Kinnock or Chris Patten, there have been significant reforms in...
Peter Bone | 472 c770 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Douglas Alexander | 472 c769 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that my right hon. Friend is being fair—perhaps we should say the 19th century, becaus...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 472 c769 (Link to this contribution) The European Scrutiny Committee received a report on EU development last year, in which one of the S...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c769 (Link to this contribution) I give way to my right hon. Friend.
Denis MacShane | 472 c769 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for being so generous in giving way. Last week we heard the ...
Mark Pritchard | 472 c768 (Link to this contribution) On the European development fund, does the Secretary of State agree that the delays between decision...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c768 (Link to this contribution) The first person whom the hon. Gentleman would need to convince of that policy is the leader of his ...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c768 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink).
Bob Spink | 472 c768 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will agree about the importance of trade policy in internati...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c768-9 (Link to this contribution) If I recollect, the 133 committee has existed since the treaty of Rome. It is not a decision-making ...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c768 (Link to this contribution) I am spoilt for choice. I am happy to give way to the Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard).
Jim McGovern | 472 c774-5 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that EU aid not only benefits people in Africa and Asia, but has pla...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c775 (Link to this contribution) I remember vociferously disagreeing with the right hon. Member for Banff and Buchan back in the happ...
Rob Marris | 472 c774 (Link to this contribution) On the subject of delivering aid effectively, does the Secretary of State welcome, as I do, article ...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c774 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. I was in Sierra Leone on Saturday, and when travelling through Freetown...
Lord Brady of Altrincham | 472 c773 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has made a case for the division of aid between expenditure through the Europ...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c774 (Link to this contribution) I fear that I am not able to offer the hon. Gentleman a precise figure or recollection, but I will a...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c773 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my former shadow.
Sally Keeble | 472 c773 (Link to this contribution) May I take up my right hon. Friend's point about aid effectiveness? He will be aware of today's cove...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c773 (Link to this contribution) I sense that my hon. Friend is referring to Josette Sheeran, the director of the World Food Programm...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c772-3 (Link to this contribution) I do not recognise the percentage given by the hon. Gentleman. Certainly European support continues ...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c773 (Link to this contribution) Given that the European Union is such a large donor, disbursing about $10 billion of aid in 2006, do...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c773 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more. I think that to act otherwise would genuinely constitute a retreat, not just...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c771-2 (Link to this contribution) With respect to the hon. Gentleman, I have to say that I am not convinced by his case. Again, let me...
James Duddridge | 472 c772 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Douglas Alexander | 472 c772 (Link to this contribution) I will make a little more progress, then I will happily give way. As I have said, important reforms...
James Duddridge | 472 c772 (Link to this contribution) One of the Department's successes has been in focusing on lower-income countries, on which 81 per ce...
Tony Baldry | 472 c770-1 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State is pushing at an open door when it comes to convincing many of us that co-ope...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c771 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a serious and constructive point. I am grateful to him for acknowledging th...
Tony Baldry | 472 c771 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving me the opportunity to intervene again. One could ...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c777 (Link to this contribution) I have been generous with the House, so I shall make a little progress. By 2006, the single market ...
William Cash | 472 c777 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Douglas Alexander | 472 c778-9 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman must be making up for lost time, as a number of those points were dealt w...
William Cash | 472 c778 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State knows that, in common with several of my colleagues on the Opposition Benches...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c778 (Link to this contribution) One of the specific steps we are taking is to increase our support for Fairtrade Labelling Organisat...
Jo Swinson | 472 c777-8 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman's generosity in giving way. Today is the start of fair trade f...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c780 (Link to this contribution) Of course my hon. Friend is right to recognise that there are vast numbers of poor people in India, ...
Rob Marris | 472 c780 (Link to this contribution) While my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is on his Cook's tour of the subcontinent, will he...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c779-80 (Link to this contribution) The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that although the hon. Gentleman beat me to Bangladesh...
Mike Hancock | 472 c779 (Link to this contribution) Before the Secretary of State tells us that he has been to Bangladesh, I shall say that I was there ...
Gary Streeter | 472 c775 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Gary Streeter | 472 c775 (Link to this contribution) I strongly agree with the right hon. Gentleman on that last point, as I hope to make clear later if ...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c775 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a little progress before giving way. I do not particularly mind whether the principal ...
David Wright | 472 c776 (Link to this contribution) Surely it is incredibly important to have an EU perspective, so that we can influence the approach o...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c775-6 (Link to this contribution) It says something about the hon. Gentleman's standing that in response to his suggestion that I had ...
Ann McKechin | 472 c776 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that in areas of conflict, and particularly in fragile states, the d...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c776 (Link to this contribution) The point is well taken, although I would draw the House's attention not to the example of the Unite...
Pete Wishart | 472 c776 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State agree that one of the most important and decisive things the European Un...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c776 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. In July, I had the opportunity to visit El Fasher in northern Darfur, w...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c776-7 (Link to this contribution) There will be a fundamental review of the European Union's budget, and I should also mention the so-...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c786 (Link to this contribution) The implementation of the treaty could be an opportunity, but it is not the only opportunity, as I s...
Speaker | 472 c786 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is unacceptable to pursue that when I have given a ruling. There is no direct accusation a...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c785-6 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for keeping me on the straight and narrow, Mr. Deputy Speaker. First, the representations...
Speaker | 472 c785 (Link to this contribution) Order. I get a little uneasy when words such as ““misrepresentation”” and ““mislead”” are brought in...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c785 (Link to this contribution) There is much in the letter that BOND issued, as I said, and much more with which I agree, but I wil...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c785 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that he agrees with everything that BOND states, or does he agree on...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c785 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has just undermined the Secretary of State's statement, by accepting that the BON...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c785 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentioned parts of a BOND paper with which he agreed. [Interruption.] The hon. Ge...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c785 (Link to this contribution) It certainly does not. The right hon. Gentleman is quoting selectively from a document. If he looked...
Richard Burden | 472 c786 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, my Birmingham colleague. I will not ask him to go as far as my ...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c786 (Link to this contribution) The Government's approach comes as no surprise, given their determination to force through the treat...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c783 (Link to this contribution) I reject entirely the right hon. Lady's supposition. One can have better aid effectiveness from Euro...
Patricia Hewitt | 472 c783 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman referred to the improvements that have been made to the way in which the European...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c784 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is on to something. However, in deference to Ministers I should say that the crimes o...
Denis MacShane | 472 c780 (Link to this contribution) Further to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris), i...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c782-3 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, To leave out from 'House' to end and to insert instead thereof:"““disapproves of the ...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c780-2 (Link to this contribution) I get the sense that my right hon. Friend has a particular concern relating to India's foreign polic...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c784 (Link to this contribution) They are indeed a collective Government, and I shall come on to the very point that my hon. Friend m...
Tony Baldry | 472 c784 (Link to this contribution) They are a collective Government.
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c789-92 (Link to this contribution) Those countries do not need a treaty in order to fulfil what they promised to poor countries in fron...
Rob Marris | 472 c792 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman welcome, like me, article 209 on page 135 of the consolidated text, which st...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c792-3 (Link to this contribution) I hesitate to give the hon. Gentleman a straight answer, because he is a distinguished lawyer, but o...
Gareth Thomas | 472 c793 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman at least acknowledge the work that we and a number of member states have bee...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c793 (Link to this contribution) I acknowledge that many have argued passionately for the reform of the rules of origin. My point is ...
Gareth Thomas | 472 c793 (Link to this contribution) Reform of rules of origin does not require the EC treaty; it simply requires agreement with the Comm...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c793 (Link to this contribution) The Under-Secretary underlines the point that we do not need a treaty to make progress. That is at t...
William Cash | 472 c789 (Link to this contribution) I strongly endorse what my hon. Friend is saying. Many of us present are extremely keen to ensure th...
William Cash | 472 c786 (Link to this contribution) May I assure my hon. Friend—this is meant to be helpful—that nothing that he or any of the other Whi...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c786-7 (Link to this contribution) There have been numerous reports of Labour Members returning from their constituencies after a weeke...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c786 (Link to this contribution) For clarity, will the hon. Gentleman confirm that he was a Whip in the Conservative Government durin...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c786 (Link to this contribution) I certainly give the Secretary of State that confirmation.
Sally Keeble | 472 c788 (Link to this contribution) As a former journalist on The Birmingham Post, may I say that even that august newspaper is prone to...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c788-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her intervention. I understand her point, but I hope that I was m...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c787 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman think it reasonable or appropriate to consider KGB torture chambers with the...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c787-8 (Link to this contribution) I will certainly not withdraw them. It is therefore particularly embarrassing for the Government th...
David Wright | 472 c789 (Link to this contribution) Could the hon. Gentleman tell us how, by withdrawing from the treaty, he would secure an increase in...
Andrew Mitchell | 472 c789 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point, which I hope he will develop if he catches your eye, Mr. Deputy S...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 472 c767-8 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that we are all glad that any account can be signed off in the European institutions. Howe...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c768 (Link to this contribution) I know of my hon. Friend's long interest in European matters, but I fear that she labours under a mi...
Speaker | 472 c767 (Link to this contribution) I inform the House the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the right hon. Member...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c767 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House approves the Government's policy towards the Treaty of Lisbon in resp...
Shailesh Vara | 472 c767 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State speaks of giving aid to less developed countries. Given that the European Uni...
Tony Baldry | 472 c812 (Link to this contribution) What does the treaty of Lisbon have to do with EPAs?
Colin Burgon | 472 c811-2 (Link to this contribution) I shall probably have a midnight visit from the Whips, now that I have secured the hon. Gentleman's ...
William Cash | 472 c811 (Link to this contribution) I find myself in agreement with much of the hon. Gentleman's argument. I agreed up to a point with t...
Colin Burgon | 472 c809-11 (Link to this contribution) In his opening speech, the Secretary of State said that eliminating global poverty was one of the gr...
Gary Streeter | 472 c807-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman anticipates my second point, which is that of course enlargement has natural limi...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c806-7 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman that EU enlargement has been an important driver for development, bu...
Gary Streeter | 472 c806 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend asks an important question. I certainly have in mind a European Union of looser assoc...
William Cash | 472 c806 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend might have suspected that I would intervene at this point. When he speaks about Europ...
Gary Streeter | 472 c805-6 (Link to this contribution) I enjoyed the speech of the hon. Member for Amber Valley (Judy Mallaber). To begin precisely where s...
Judy Mallaber | 472 c804-5 (Link to this contribution) It is important that the treaty should include at its heart the principle of eradicating poverty, as...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 472 c817-8 (Link to this contribution) No, I am afraid I cannot agree to that. The existing Maastricht treaty text specifies"““more particu...
Gareth Thomas | 472 c816-7 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman at least acknowledge that the treaty represents a significant step for...
William Cash | 472 c818 (Link to this contribution) I agree with every word my right hon. Friend is saying. Does he recollect that one of the problems w...
William Cash | 472 c815 (Link to this contribution) I agree with much of what my hon. Friend says, but I invite him to consider another point. The debat...
Tony Baldry | 472 c814-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman takes me neatly to the second of my four points. Everyone who has spoken has righ...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 472 c816 (Link to this contribution) We are debating what is supposed to be a reform treaty—that is what it was called before it became t...
Tony Baldry | 472 c815-6 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I do. However, all treaties, whether the Single European Act, Maastricht or Amsterdam, have had...
Colin Burgon | 472 c812 (Link to this contribution) The treaty effectively adopts a neo-liberal approach to its relationships with other countries; that...
Kelvin Hopkins | 472 c814 (Link to this contribution) What the hon. Gentleman has mentioned will get even worse than it is now. Is it not the case that Eu...
Tony Baldry | 472 c812-4 (Link to this contribution) There is no real debate or division in the House about the fact that 27 member states working togeth...
William Cash | 472 c821-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree. It is pretty extraordinary to hear the Government advocating a policy—we certainly are not ...
James Clappison | 472 c821 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. Does it not follow from what he is saying that if the EU ...
William Cash | 472 c820-1 (Link to this contribution) I agree, as a matter of fact. The problem is that this is an issue of enormous importance. I do not...
William Cash | 472 c823 (Link to this contribution) Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that the Government have a serious problem? We all want things to ...
Mike Hancock | 472 c822-3 (Link to this contribution) I have more than a little sympathy for the hon. Member for Banbury (Tony Baldry), who tried to deal ...
William Cash | 472 c819 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that I have managed to get a rise out of the right hon. Gentleman.
William Cash | 472 c819 (Link to this contribution) I endorse what my right hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) has said. It is absol...
David Heathcoat-Amory | 472 c818-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. Those dangers are real, and he is also right to say that we gave way fa...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 472 c828-31 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to give way, because we are very short of time, and it would be unfair on the Ministe...
Hugh Bayley | 472 c828 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Speaker | 472 c833 (Link to this contribution) Order. Conversations are breaking out throughout the Chamber. The House must listen to the Minister....
Gareth Thomas | 472 c831-3 (Link to this contribution) This has been an interesting debate, and it is a genuine pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Nort...
Gareth Thomas | 472 c833-4 (Link to this contribution) The OECD noted that EC aid had improved substantially. It commended both the role of the Commission ...
Mike Hancock | 472 c823-4 (Link to this contribution) That is a good point. There has been ample opportunity to explain that this afternoon. The Secretary...
Mike Hancock | 472 c824-5 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the point that I was trying to make. The hon. Gentleman has made it far more eloquen...
Rob Marris | 472 c824 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman referred to chapter 3, on humanitarian aid. He will therefore be aware that artic...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 472 c827-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to wind up this excellent debate, which started in characteristic style with the Se...
Ann McKechin | 472 c825-7 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock) for his courtesy. I also apologise to th...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c770 (Link to this contribution) I fear that I will not be able to convince those on my own side as effectively in the time remaining...
Tony Baldry | 472 c783-4 (Link to this contribution) Before my hon. Friend does so, does he agree that it is curious that, listening to the Secretary of ...
Michael Moore | 472 c800 (Link to this contribution) We are in a period of transition. I have not ducked away from the need for Europe to get its act tog...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c770 (Link to this contribution) I have been generous to the House and I should make a little progress.
Douglas Alexander | 472 c784-5 (Link to this contribution) In the interests of clarity, and in the light of the observation by the hon. Member for Banbury (Ton...
Douglas Alexander | 472 c767 (Link to this contribution) I cite the example of the European development fund, the accounts of which have been signed off for ...
Subjects
Developing countries
Development aid
European Union
EU action
Imports
Treaties
Trade
EU aid
Treaty of Lisbon
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
Back to top