European Communities (Finance) Bill

My Lords, I am not sure that there is anything at all I can say that would enable the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, to agree with any single figure in the European Union budget because he wants us out of the EU altogether. I respect his view but it is not one with which I agree. All I ask of my noble friend is that he will try to give an assurance that, in future he will present these figures in the Comprehensive Spending Review and in the annual expenditure round in terms that the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, can understand even if he does not agree with them. Despite my criticism of the way the expenditure is given to us, I remain convinced about the benefits of our membership of the European Union. The advantages are enormous. Certainly, I hope that the Conservative Party will not go as far as the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, would like because it would be to the enormous disadvantage of the United Kingdom. What it tells me is that a referendum on such complex issues as the way the money is obtained and spent would be nonsense. It is difficult enough for us in Parliament to understand. Some of us think that we have an idea about raising revenue, but the idea that the average man or woman—readers of the Sun or even the Times—would remotely comprehend whether to say yes or no in a referendum is nonsense.