UK Parliament / Open data

European Union Bill

Debate on bills and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Tuesday, 11 January 2011, in the House of Commons.
European Union Bill. Committee stage (first day). Clause 18: Status of EU law dependent on continuing statutory basis, debated and agreed to with amendments negatived on division. Discussed with New Clause 1: Parliamentary sovereignty and New Clause 4: Saving for existing law. Progress reported. Committee to sit again tomorrow.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

521 c171-259 

Session

2010-12

Department

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Legislative stage

Committee stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

European Union Bill 2010-12. Explanatory notes also published (Bill 106-EN).
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Bills
House of Commons
The EU Bill and Parliamentary sovereignty. European Scrutiny Committee tenth report with formal minutes and written evidence. In two volumes.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons
The EU Bill and Parliamentary sovereignty. European Scrutiny Committee first special report - government response to the Committee's tenth report of session 2010-11 (HC 633).
Monday, 10 January 2011
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

William Cash | 521 c226 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with my hon. Friend's speech. Does he agree that the expert witnesses were all agr...
William Cash | 521 c221-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making remarks with which I must, unfortunately, disagree. In particular, I do not...

Show all contributions (255)
David Lidington | 521 c243-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to all right hon. and hon. Members who have taken part in today's debate: my hon. Frie...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c235 (Link to this contribution) I think I am safe to agree with what the hon. Gentleman says, and that is why clause 18 is not a sov...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c184 (Link to this contribution) I am intrigued by the intervention of my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kensington (Si...
William Cash | 521 c184 (Link to this contribution) Ah. He knows that he may have to answer that question during the debate. Judicial trends have recent...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c189 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend, and there is much force in what he says. The UK's destiny is best controlled...
Chris Bryant | 521 c187 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening to my hon. Friend, and I have now caught up with where he was two paragraphs a...
Mark Reckless | 521 c207 (Link to this contribution) On this side of the House, we work with the Liberal Democrats, and there is one aspect of their mani...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c190 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is planning to table an amendment on an in-out referendum, I will consider it....
John Redwood | 521 c197 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman think that there is ever the danger that if a sovereign authority gives away...
Brian Binley | 521 c206 (Link to this contribution) Without diverging too much, may I ask the hon. Gentleman what he would have wanted if his shotgun ma...
Ian Jnr Paisley | 521 c222 (Link to this contribution) Is not the reason why people do not get excited about this sort of stuff—the hon. Gentleman has put ...
Denis MacShane | 521 c219 (Link to this contribution) I shall take one last intervention, and then I must stop.
Michael Connarty | 521 c233 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman not willing to tell the full tale? The power given to the Commission under Eur...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 521 c222 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. However, during my 10 years as a Member of the European...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 521 c222-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree, which is why I focused my attempts to amend the Bill on the parts of it where there are opp...
Thomas Docherty | 521 c223-5 (Link to this contribution) Several Members on both sides of the Committee have referred to England, the English Parliament and ...
James Clappison | 521 c225-6 (Link to this contribution) Like several colleagues who have already spoken, I was a member of the European Scrutiny Committee t...
James Clappison | 521 c226 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right, as were those experts. As a House, we are right to address this matter, and...
William Cash | 521 c227 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend mind my mentioning that, for reasons connected with the European Communities Act...
James Clappison | 521 c228 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to point out that judicial activism is a living organism. That activism is n...
Wayne David | 521 c226 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman is about to refer in detail to the amendments. Before he does so, wi...
James Clappison | 521 c226-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman would do as well to ask what is the point of his amendment. The gist of his speec...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c229 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr Clappison), who made an...
Henry Smith | 521 c228 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful argument. As we have heard a lot this evening, we have an evolving c...
James Clappison | 521 c228-9 (Link to this contribution) The interesting point that was missed out by the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane) in hi...
James Clappison | 521 c226 (Link to this contribution) The amendments are not mine, although I would be happy to put my name to them. They were drafted aft...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park | 521 c226 (Link to this contribution) Have the same experts provided my hon. Friend with an opinion on whether the amendments would make c...
Denis MacShane | 521 c219 (Link to this contribution) There is this version of Britain contra mundum—the 26 member states all ganging up against us. We ha...
Denis MacShane | 521 c219-20 (Link to this contribution) Most of my speech has consisted of accepting interventions from right hon. and hon. Friends and coll...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c219 (Link to this contribution) Time and again my right hon. Friend poses the alternative: ““accept what we have, or get out of the ...
Ian Jnr Paisley | 521 c218 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for almost inviting me back. Having worked in Brussels and in Franc...
Denis MacShane | 521 c218-9 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman spent time in France, he may have read in the French papers reports of blockad...
Denis MacShane | 521 c217-8 (Link to this contribution) With respect, the hon. Gentleman is not being fair to our officials, who undertake the arduous task ...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 521 c220-1 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for calling me to speak, sir; I call you ““sir”” because I am not sure whether I should ca...
William Cash | 521 c244-5 (Link to this contribution) That was a case of first instance and we do not know what might happen in future. Does my right hon....
David Nuttall | 521 c242-3 (Link to this contribution) I am conscious of the fact that this has been a long debate and that there are many points for the M...
William Cash | 521 c245 (Link to this contribution) The reference that the Minister slipped in about Martin Howe is quite unreasonable. What Martin Howe...
David Lidington | 521 c245 (Link to this contribution) What is different about clause 18 compared with the current legal position is that for the first tim...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c245 (Link to this contribution) Clause 18 can be read simply as a historical fact. It does not give continuing force to the sovereig...
David Lidington | 521 c245 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and I shall come on to say a bit more about that in a moment.
David Lidington | 521 c245 (Link to this contribution) I will come to that precise point later in my remarks. The point I was making a moment ago was that,...
Wayne David | 521 c246 (Link to this contribution) Just for clarification, is the Minister saying that there is a difference in legal opinion between t...
William Cash | 521 c246 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful for the Minister's final remarks about the judges. He tried to discharge the poin...
David Lidington | 521 c246 (Link to this contribution) Certainly not. I am saying that we made sure we took legal advice from all the relevant Departments ...
Michael Connarty | 521 c246 (Link to this contribution) Clause 18 says that we gave away our primacy in terms of European law in section 2(1) of the 1972 Ac...
David Lidington | 521 c246 (Link to this contribution) That enforces the need for us to put on a statutory basis the position that European law has effect ...
David Lidington | 521 c246-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is pre-empting the next section of my speech in which I want to make it clear wha...
David Lidington | 521 c248 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is inviting me to go much further than my Department's responsibilities. I am very wi...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c247-8 (Link to this contribution) The confusion arises in thinking that it is somehow possible to segment European law from domestic l...
William Cash | 521 c248 (Link to this contribution) I thought that my right hon. Friend would give way at that point, because he could see that I could ...
David Lidington | 521 c248-9 (Link to this contribution) We wanted to be certain that the clause caught every piece of legislation that it can be argued give...
Julian Lewis | 521 c249 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is doing a grand job and has already persuaded me that I should not refuse to v...
Wayne David | 521 c250 (Link to this contribution) Given that the Minister had clearly agreed to change the explanatory notes before the debate, would ...
David Lidington | 521 c250 (Link to this contribution) If one follows the logic that my hon. Friend and others have adduced this evening about the ambition...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c249 (Link to this contribution) I am incredulous about this argument about the word ““sovereignty””. Is my right hon. Friend serious...
David Lidington | 521 c249 (Link to this contribution) Parliament has the right, which the courts would be obliged to uphold, to repeal or amend the Europe...
David Morris | 521 c249 (Link to this contribution) I wish to pose a question. Let us say, for argument's sake, that the nationalists in Scotland impose...
David Lidington | 521 c249 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is ingenious and teasing in his question, but I am here to represent the policies of ...
William Cash | 521 c231 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend also agree that, in the context of Van Gend en Loos, Costa and all the other cas...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c231-3 (Link to this contribution) I will revert to that later. The great danger of the European constitution was that it was explicitl...
Louise Mensch | 521 c230-1 (Link to this contribution) Having lived in the United States, I absolutely share my hon. Friend's concern about judges' encroac...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c231 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept that my right hon. and hon. Friends on the Front Bench have attempted to take a step ...
Lord Spellar | 521 c233 (Link to this contribution) Did the hon. Gentleman seek alternative legal advice, which is often the sensible thing when getting...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c233 (Link to this contribution) We sought alternative legal advice and were assured that, in all probability, the domestic British c...
Michael Connarty | 521 c230 (Link to this contribution) I could not resist coming into the Chamber when I saw the hon. Gentleman's name on the board. Could ...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c230 (Link to this contribution) What has changed is the nature of the legal order in the EU and the UK's relationship with that lega...
William Cash | 521 c229-30 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he agree that when those principles were being es...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c230 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and without wishing to digress, I point out that Lord Phillips, the current president of the Su...
William Cash | 521 c235 (Link to this contribution) The latest Act would prevail over all the previous Acts. Therefore, in so far as there was any uncer...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c235-6 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely, and it would not be open to Lord Hope or any others to say that the sovereignty of Parli...
Richard Shepherd | 521 c236-8 (Link to this contribution) When I first came into the House in 1979 it would have been inconceivable that anyone would even dis...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c238 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next speaker, let me remind the Committee that the debate will end at 10 pm...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c233 (Link to this contribution) I fully accept that there is an argument and a balance of interests to be struck. The hon. Gentleman...
William Cash | 521 c234 (Link to this contribution) The occupied field is virtually full; very little more can be put into it. Does my hon. Friend also ...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c234-5 (Link to this contribution) I totally endorse that comment by my hon. Friend. There might even be in this coalition, for reasons...
Wayne David | 521 c235 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes the point that there is absolutely nothing in the Bill—and no indication wh...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c240 (Link to this contribution) Order. Hon. Members are fully aware that only one Member should be on their feet at any one time, ra...
Michael Connarty | 521 c240 (Link to this contribution) I certainly will bear that in mind. I am very aware of the clock, and I think—
Michael Connarty | 521 c240 (Link to this contribution) When I observe the behaviour of the current Scottish National party Government in Scotland, I see my...
Michael Connarty | 521 c238-9 (Link to this contribution) As you see, Ms Primarolo, I am surrounded by a large number of papers. I have asked many questions d...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 521 c239-40 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman in favour of Europe—Brussels—being the sovereign Parliament, or London or Scot...
Michael Connarty | 521 c240 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful, but I really do not need protection from the bullies on the Scottish nationalist Benc...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c240 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Michael Connarty | 521 c241-2 (Link to this contribution) I will at the appropriate time. I specifically chose the questions that I asked again and again in t...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c240 (Link to this contribution) That is enough. Mr Connarty has the Floor. I ask the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNei...
Michael Connarty | 521 c240 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is showing why my world is shrinking. The bullying culture of nationalism is very...
David Lidington | 521 c251-2 (Link to this contribution) Yes. I am an elected Member of Parliament. I did not campaign for many years to come here to hand ov...
William Cash | 521 c252-3 (Link to this contribution) I am very glad to see that the Prime Minister is in his place for these final moments. He and I have...
David Lidington | 521 c250-1 (Link to this contribution) I have had no private conversations with my hon. Friend the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Commit...
John Redwood | 521 c251 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister tell the House that he wishes to assert parliamentary sovereignty and resist judic...
William Cash | 521 c171 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 41, page 11, line 25, at end insert—
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c171 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
William Cash | 521 c172-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that point. Indeed, I would be fascinated to know what would hap...
Geraint Davies | 521 c173 (Link to this contribution) How does the hon. Gentleman reconcile his call for sovereignty of the House with the fact that, on 1...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c173 (Link to this contribution) Order. It would help if the hon. Gentleman could try to shorten his interventions.
William Cash | 521 c171-2 (Link to this contribution) The group relates specifically to clause 18, and I shall explain a little of the amendments' purpose...
Edward Leigh | 521 c172 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend deal with the canard put around by Foreign Office lawyers that if his amendment ...
William Cash | 521 c172 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right and I am grateful to him. Indeed, I suspect that many other colleagues, not ...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c172 (Link to this contribution) I happened to be doing a television interview earlier today with Mr Chris Davies, who is a Liberal D...
William Cash | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) The amendments, if passed, would enable us to deal with those questions. In point of fact, I intend ...
Malcolm Rifkind | 521 c183 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend not in danger of being so learned as to confuse himself about his own amendment? T...
William Cash | 521 c180-3 (Link to this contribution) No, I cannot. I am a bit puzzled by that, but as I develop my speech I hope to be able to explain wh...
John Redwood | 521 c180 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing the House's attention to this crucial matter. As I under...
William Cash | 521 c179-80 (Link to this contribution) I shall deal with that point shortly, but—with respect to the right hon. Gentleman—he will have to b...
Denis MacShane | 521 c179 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree with what the hon. Gentleman has been saying, but the fundamental rule of internat...
William Cash | 521 c179 (Link to this contribution) I should be more than happy to show the hon. Gentleman a book that is entirely devoted to the issue ...
William Cash | 521 c178-9 (Link to this contribution) If I may say so, that is not only true but precisely what I am seeking to deal with in new clause 1,...
Martin Horwood | 521 c179 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being extremely generous with his time. According to a report from his own Eur...
Martin Horwood | 521 c178 (Link to this contribution) I would like to question the hon. Gentleman on one of these principles. He is presenting this as a c...
Peter Bone | 521 c186 (Link to this contribution) On my hon. Friend's point, is he saying that if we had a Conservative Government, we would have a to...
William Cash | 521 c184 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, because as I mentioned earlier, under the Constitutional Reform Act...
William Cash | 521 c185-6 (Link to this contribution) What is simple is that the concept of parliamentary sovereignty requires some explanation, and Jeffr...
Chris Bryant | 521 c184-5 (Link to this contribution) Notwithstanding that, Coke was one of this country's greatest Chief Justices. The hon. Gentleman app...
Martin Horwood | 521 c184 (Link to this contribution) I realise I am on dangerous ground in quoting bits of the hon. Gentleman's report back to him, but i...
William Cash | 521 c184 (Link to this contribution) That would be the case if it were accepted by the judges in the Supreme Court. It is precisely becau...
William Cash | 521 c183-4 (Link to this contribution) Precisely because the courts have moved further and further down that route, as I explained when quo...
William Cash | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) To which I would simply reply:"““Et sine lite loquax cum Palladis alite cornix””."
Denis MacShane | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) Just as we start this interesting debate, I would like to know whether the hon. Gentleman accepts th...
William Cash | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) I certainly will. I am always glad to see the hon. Gentleman.
Denis MacShane | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Martin Horwood | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman now in favour of establishing a common European language?
William Cash | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) I was talking about the crow that was quacking on the fence.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) Order. We cannot have two hon. Members on their feet at the same time.
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) Does the previous intervention not underline why we need my hon. Friend's amendment? There might be ...
William Cash | 521 c174 (Link to this contribution) I am deeply grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention, because he is exactly right. Since 1972...
Lord Beamish | 521 c176 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and his Conservative colleagues stood in the election on a manifesto that said on...
Malcolm Rifkind | 521 c177 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is undoubtedly correct to say that the role of the courts has increased significantly...
William Cash | 521 c176-7 (Link to this contribution) Not disappointed—absolutely appalled. The sovereignty of Parliament is the most important principle...
Julian Lewis | 521 c177 (Link to this contribution) Our right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Kensington (Sir Malcolm Rifkind) is surely correct ...
William Cash | 521 c177 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend for that. I agree with the sentiment; th...
William Cash | 521 c177-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very important point, which I think all Members will want to take into accoun...
William Cash | 521 c174-5 (Link to this contribution) As long as it subscribed to the classical arrangements that were provided for when we all actually s...
William Cash | 521 c175-6 (Link to this contribution) With the greatest respect, we have already had one intervention from the right hon. Gentleman. Perha...
William Cash | 521 c192 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I have to inform my hon. Friend that Professor Hartley did not address the question...
Jim Shannon | 521 c193 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the common fisheries policy is a clear example of how sovereignty...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c193 (Link to this contribution) We stood on a manifesto that stated that we would rework our relations with the EU and that we would...
Anne Main | 521 c193 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that we promised a sovereignty Bill because of the very concerns that he ...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c192-3 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, with whom I agree on so many matters about the European Union. Howe...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c194 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. However, that is not a debate about the sovereignty of the UK Parliament. I...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c193 (Link to this contribution) There is much concern among Members of all parties about the common fisheries policy, the common agr...
Wayne David | 521 c194 (Link to this contribution) This Bill, and more particularly this clause, have had a long gestation. In November 2009, the then ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c191 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am the most tolerant of Chairmen, but we really must try to stick to something remotely con...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 521 c191 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman is going to share his views on the federation or confederat...
David Nuttall | 521 c191 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend made a point about the explanatory notes. Is not the real problem with clause 18 enun...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c191 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Gale. You have saved me from having to get myself out of that one.
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c191 (Link to this contribution) Personally, I believe that it is wrong to see EU law as having primacy. I underline again that the U...
Lord Beamish | 521 c191 (Link to this contribution) Is not it also important in the case of the metric martyrs, Thoburn v. Sunderland city council, to n...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c192 (Link to this contribution) If I may continue, Lord Justice Laws went on:"““It cannot stipulate as to the manner and form of any...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c189 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that helpful intervention. Allow me to explain. I did not say that I ...
Lord Beamish | 521 c189 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman stated that he wants to revisit our membership of the European Union. I know that...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c189 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful and correct point. There is concern in this House that it does not c...
Anne Main | 521 c189 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful argument. Many Conservative Members have been concerned about influe...
Bernard Jenkin | 521 c189 (Link to this contribution) In support of my hon. Friend's point, it is a great mistake to believe that there ought to be identi...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c189 (Link to this contribution) I would agree with the hon. Gentleman were we part of the single currency and the eurozone, but we a...
Chris Bryant | 521 c190 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree. My anxiety about the codification process is that it is dangerous of itself, bec...
Daniel Kawczynski | 521 c190 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that nobody under the age of 53 in the United Kingdom has ever been consul...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c190 (Link to this contribution) I agree absolutely with my hon. Friend. Perhaps that matter should at some point be considered. I ra...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c187 (Link to this contribution) I voted for devolution, so one could say that, but I leave it to the hon. Gentleman to pursue that p...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 521 c187 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman would be an enthusiast for extending that principle to not only ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c188 (Link to this contribution) I accept what my hon. Friend says, of course, but it depends on how much wriggle room there is. Even...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c186-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow a speech by the hon. Member for Stone (Mr Cash). I strongly support...
William Cash | 521 c186 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on that extremely perceptive remark. I entirely agree with him. If tha...
William Cash | 521 c188 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is also becoming apparent that some statutes have deliberate a...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c188 (Link to this contribution) Indeed; the hon. Gentleman makes an important point. My concern is based on a suspicion that the Gov...
Charlie Elphicke | 521 c188 (Link to this contribution) Underlying this entire debate about the European Union, sovereignty and the exact meaning of clause ...
Geraint Davies | 521 c188 (Link to this contribution) In an earlier intervention, I mentioned the European systemic risk board, the European Securities an...
William Cash | 521 c196 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman also accept that Eleanor Sharpston has moved seamlessly upwards and has now ...
Wayne David | 521 c196-7 (Link to this contribution) It is extremely unlikely that her arguments would have been accepted by any legal authority given th...
Wayne David | 521 c194 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a wider, but fair, point. We have seen the evidence of that all too often in th...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 521 c194 (Link to this contribution) On the issue of manifestos, does the hon. Gentleman regret the fact that his party, when in governme...
Thomas Docherty | 521 c194 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps my hon. Friend has noticed—as I have over the last six months—that there is not much point t...
Lord Beamish | 521 c196 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the case also clearly rejected the notion that EU institutions or leg...
Wayne David | 521 c196 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, and that is my next point. Significantly, the argument made by Eleanor Sharpston QC was reje...
Wayne David | 521 c195-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's comments are inaccurate, because we did not give a commitment to have a referen...
Wayne David | 521 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am just coming to the amendment that we are proposing, which would allow an opportunity for the is...
Martin Horwood | 521 c200 (Link to this contribution) With all due respect to the hon. Gentleman, I shall have to restate my question. I was not asking wh...
Wayne David | 521 c197-8 (Link to this contribution) I do not believe so. It is important, from time to time and in specific circumstances, to pool sover...
Geraint Davies | 521 c198 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that if there is a risk to sovereignty it is from this Conservative Prime ...
Wayne David | 521 c198-9 (Link to this contribution) That is an interesting point. The Prime Minister, rightly or wrongly, certainly believes that it is ...
William Cash | 521 c199 (Link to this contribution) I am somewhat encouraged by the Opposition's line of argument because, as I explained in my speech, ...
Wayne David | 521 c199-200 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman might well have a point. This is something that has to be looked at carefully. I ...
Martin Horwood | 521 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am rather confused about the Labour Front-Bench position. Having apparently endorsed the fear that...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c203-4 (Link to this contribution) Wisely, Britain already has a number of opt-outs from the European Union. I am thinking specifically...
Wayne David | 521 c201-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will have to wait and see what the Opposition decide to do. As true democrats, on...
John Redwood | 521 c202-3 (Link to this contribution) The Crown was sovereign once. It is intriguing that we are more than two hours into this debate but ...
Wayne David | 521 c201 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making hard work of this—or perhaps he is not listening as carefully as he mig...
Peter Bone | 521 c201 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a well-constructed speech, but I want to ascertain the official Opposit...
Martin Horwood | 521 c201 (Link to this contribution) I am hoping that my persistence will pay off. The hon. Gentleman appears to be saying that on the on...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 521 c200 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will know from his time as leader of the Labour MEPs that for those of us who are...
Wayne David | 521 c201 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure what the ““mission creep”” that the hon. Gentleman is talking about really is. We have...
Wayne David | 521 c200 (Link to this contribution) We would want an accurate reflection of what has been happening in the British courts and the Europe...
Lord Beamish | 521 c207 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman had spoken to me a couple of days after the general election, he would know th...
Lord Beamish | 521 c207 (Link to this contribution) If there is a referendum, it will be interesting to observe the actions of the coalition. As on many...
John Redwood | 521 c205 (Link to this contribution) Withdrawal from the common fisheries policy was not in the manifesto, although it might have been in...
Lord Beamish | 521 c205-6 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the European Scrutiny Committee on its excellent report. I commend it for the clarity...
Martin Horwood | 521 c205 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes an eloquent case. He and I might disagree on whether we want to withd...
John Redwood | 521 c204-5 (Link to this contribution) Indeed; the hon. Gentleman makes a powerful point. I, too, would like us to opt out of the common fi...
Lord Beamish | 521 c208 (Link to this contribution) In some cases, possibly. However, it is clear that some members of the Conservative party feel more ...
Lord Beamish | 521 c207 (Link to this contribution) I would not wish to encroach on private grief—
Thomas Docherty | 521 c207 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has made a compelling point about Conservative Back Benchers, but is not part of ...
Lord Beamish | 521 c208 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree. I am another of those who are willing to criticise European institutions on ground...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c208 (Link to this contribution) I did not intend to intervene, but my hon. Friend keeps talking about ““nasty Europeans”” as if this...
Lord Beamish | 521 c207 (Link to this contribution) I imagine that it is, but the real point about the modern Conservative party is that it has not chan...
Denis MacShane | 521 c207 (Link to this contribution) Is there not an alternative reading of the manifestos? The Liberals' ““in or out”” referendum offer ...
Peter Bone | 521 c209 (Link to this contribution) I have had no information from the Prime Minister or the Minister for Europe that this was in any wa...
Lord Beamish | 521 c209 (Link to this contribution) Knowing the hon. Gentleman's record, I would have thought the Prime Minister would have given up on ...
Lord Beamish | 521 c209-10 (Link to this contribution) Well yes, but funnily enough we still see many cars parked outside this building. The important poi...
Andrew Bridgen | 521 c208 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the duty of every elected Member of the House of Commons is to de...
Lord Beamish | 521 c208-9 (Link to this contribution) I think that the duty of the elected House of Commons is not to try to hoodwink the public into beli...
Kelvin Hopkins | 521 c209 (Link to this contribution) Like my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), who is no longer in the Chamber, my hon. ...
Lord Beamish | 521 c209 (Link to this contribution) No, but it has been suggested that the courts should have no role in the passing of laws, and I simp...
Lord Beamish | 521 c211 (Link to this contribution) I am sure, however, that some Conservative Members would have such a referendum if they could—althou...
Denis MacShane | 521 c211 (Link to this contribution) For the sake of some of our new distinguished colleagues, it might be worth while if we remind ourse...
Lord Beamish | 521 c211 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to go down that route, but I think that point has already been dealt with very well. W...
Lord Beamish | 521 c210 (Link to this contribution) There is a mechanism by which the House can do that. That mechanism is to amend the 1972 Act or the ...
Andrew Bridgen | 521 c210-1 (Link to this contribution) On the hon. Gentleman's point about the clause on referendums and looking too far into the future, d...
Lord Beamish | 521 c210 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman needs to realise that it was this House that passed the 1972 Act that took us int...
Bob Stewart | 521 c210 (Link to this contribution) I am slightly foxed. Does not sovereignty mean that if we do not like it, we do not do it, and if we...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 521 c210 (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Gentleman's argument, but does he not agree that the European Court of Justice...
Richard Shepherd | 521 c213 (Link to this contribution) It seems that the hon. Gentleman missed long passages of the speech made by my hon. Friend the Membe...
Lord Beamish | 521 c212 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman seems to have completely misunderstood the point that I was making. If someone is...
Lord Beamish | 521 c213 (Link to this contribution) I had moved on to dealing with a new point, but I am willing to go back. I am glad that the hon. Gen...
Graham Stringer | 521 c211-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend that clause 18 is a smokescreen to stop the real debate taking place bot...
Lord Beamish | 521 c212 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but interestingly, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham mentioned, the Conservative...
Andrew Bridgen | 521 c212 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman asserting that when people reaffirm their marriage vows they are not actually ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c211 (Link to this contribution) Order. I hold to the strong belief that if I wait long enough we shall return to clause 18.
Lord Beamish | 521 c211 (Link to this contribution) My mind has been set off with thoughts of my right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane...
Ian Jnr Paisley | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman's courtesy in giving way. He is right that putting something i...
Denis MacShane | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) I am a courteous, friendly fellow, Mr Evans, so I accept interventions even if they are points of or...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are definitely not on clause 18 at the moment.
Denis MacShane | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) I would politely suggest to the hon. Gentleman that he wait until the early hours of Friday morning ...
Andrew Bridgen | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) Is the right hon. Gentleman's rather rambling speech just a ploy to use up time so that his colleagu...
Denis MacShane | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will have a chance to speak later.
Julian Lewis | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) What has that got to do with clause 18?
Lord Beamish | 521 c214 (Link to this contribution) At least when people renew their marriage vows, they might have a party or celebration afterwards, b...
Denis MacShane | 521 c216-7 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) who, in his short and effective ...
Neil Carmichael | 521 c214-6 (Link to this contribution) We in the Conservative party are always celebrating, especially with our coalition partners, the suc...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 521 c213 (Link to this contribution) I believe that what Lord Hope is saying is that this House could pass an Act that was not, in itself...
Neil Carmichael | 521 c214 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) mentioned marriage. That wa...
Lord Beamish | 521 c213-4 (Link to this contribution) Judges often do overrule Parliament on the interpretation of the law. The danger of going down the l...
Mark Reckless | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Evans. Would it be appropriate for the right hon. Gentleman to address his r...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to Mr MacShane, and if he is out of order, I will call him out of order.
Denis MacShane | 521 c217 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful, Mr Evans. We have heard a wide range of speeches, including one from the right hon. ...

Subjects

Common law
Constitutional and administrative law
Judiciary
EU law
European communities
Referendums
Parliamentary scrutiny
Sovereignty
Treaties
Reform
UK membership of EU
Supreme Court
Rule of law

Legislation

European Communities Act 1972
European Union Bill 2010-12

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
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