UK Parliament / Open data

European Union Bill

Debate on bills and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Tuesday, 25 January 2011, in the House of Commons.
European Union Bill. Committee stage third day. Clause 6: Decisions Requiring Approval By Act And By Referendum, debated and agreed to, as amended. Schedule 1: Treaty Provisions Where Amendment Removing Need For Unanimity, Concensus or Common Accord Would Attract Referendum, agreed to as amended. Clause 11: Persons Entitled To Vote In Referendum, debated and agreed to. Clause 12: Separate Questions, debated and agreed to. Clause 13: Role Of Electoral Commission, debated and agreed to. Committee to sit again tomorrow.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

522 c171-264 

Session

2010-12

Department

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Legislative stage

Committee stage

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: Restrictions on treaties and decisions relating to the EU. European Scrutiny Committee fifteenth report with formal minutes and written evidence.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Denis MacShane | 522 c181 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way. The hon. Gentleman will make his points in due course. In opposition, it was p...
Denis MacShane | 522 c181 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman and every other hon. Member had remained seated, rather than jumping up and in...

Show all contributions (320)
Jesse Norman | 522 c181 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman very much, and I am greatly enjoying his comic turn. On a point of ...
Denis MacShane | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way for the last time, and that is it.
Jesse Norman | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Denis MacShane | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) There we are: when we need an anorak, there is always one from Rhondda. I am grateful to my hon. Fri...
Chris Bryant | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) The protocol on broadcasting. [Laughter.]
John Redwood | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) The big difference is that the Government's health reforms are reversible if they do not work or if ...
Denis MacShane | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) To be told to sit down by the hon. Gentleman, who, to his great credit, has never long warmed a Benc...
Chris Bryant | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Denis MacShane | 522 c179-80 (Link to this contribution) That takes us into a slightly broader aspect of the debate, where there are differences between us. ...
Ben Gummer | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mike Gapes | 522 c179 (Link to this contribution) Is my right hon. Friend aware that recently a Romanian national was arrested in east London and take...
Ben Gummer | 522 c179 (Link to this contribution) As it happens, the European arrest warrant has recently been of great use to one of my constituents ...
James Clappison | 522 c179 (Link to this contribution) I invite the right hon. Gentleman to contemplate the evidence given to the Home Affairs Committee by...
Denis MacShane | 522 c179 (Link to this contribution) On the contrary, there are anomalies with the EAW. I have cases myself involving the Polish authorit...
Denis MacShane | 522 c177-8 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that we are now marrying off one of our royals to someone who has the attributes of a very...
Chris Bryant | 522 c177 (Link to this contribution) If the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood) is correct that we won in 1604, why did we spend...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 522 c178 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman seems to think that the example given by my hon. Friend the Member for Ston...
Denis MacShane | 522 c178 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is perfectly right, but we could all list examples in Britain of improper arrests...
William Cash | 522 c178 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman recall the case of the person in Leek, Staffordshire whom it was propo...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c177 (Link to this contribution) The important thing about elections is not just that they are a method for electing people to a Cham...
Denis MacShane | 522 c177 (Link to this contribution) There are times when the European Union debate makes me think that I am in Broadmoor—in respect of s...
Denis MacShane | 522 c177 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is one of the most decorative parts of this House, and I hope that, after the reducti...
Denis MacShane | 522 c177 (Link to this contribution) That is a good crack, but I think that the right hon. Gentleman will find that Spanish power messed ...
David Nuttall | 522 c176 (Link to this contribution) I have no idea what each individual thinks—that is up to them. All I am saying is that those who pro...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c176 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Denis MacShane | 522 c176-7 (Link to this contribution) Might I just finish my point on clause 6? My hon. Friend and I have had many exchanges here and in t...
David Lidington | 522 c172 (Link to this contribution) We turn now to decisions on which a referendum would always be required. Decisions taken in accordan...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c172 (Link to this contribution) With regard to Government amendment 57, will the Minister make it clear to the Committee why the Gov...
David Lidington | 522 c171 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 57, page 4, line 36, at end insert—
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c171-2 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
John Redwood | 522 c173 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful for that concession, which improves the Bill. Now that the Minister is in this sp...
David Lidington | 522 c172-3 (Link to this contribution) The wider issue of justice and home affairs opt-ins is the subject of a number of amendments and new...
David Lidington | 522 c173 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes his point firmly, as I expect him to, but as I said earlier we will have ...
David Nuttall | 522 c173-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for the courteous and generous way he is piloting the Bill through the House an...
Chris Bryant | 522 c175 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman referred earlier to consular protection, which, as he knows, has been enjoyed by ...
David Nuttall | 522 c175 (Link to this contribution) As I understand it, that is already provided for in article 20(2), so there is no need to introduce ...
Chris Bryant | 522 c175 (Link to this contribution) But following the creation of the European External Action Service, there is provision for some exte...
David Nuttall | 522 c175 (Link to this contribution) I hear the hon. Gentleman's point, but the difficulty is that article 20(2) covers much more than ju...
Chris Bryant | 522 c175-6 (Link to this contribution) When I was Minister for Europe, I probably had more correspondence with British people living in Spa...
David Nuttall | 522 c176 (Link to this contribution) I believe it should be up to the Spanish to decide who should vote in Spanish elections, not the EU,...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c176 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman really suggesting that hard-headed, pragmatic pro-Europeans say that we should...
John Redwood | 522 c202 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has been here long enough to know that signing an early-day motion...
Mike Gapes | 522 c202 (Link to this contribution) That is very true. The hon. Gentleman should therefore welcome the fact that I am a signatory to an ...
John Redwood | 522 c204 (Link to this contribution) I certainly do not want those economies to fail. However, if, according to the hon. Gentleman's anal...
Mike Gapes | 522 c204 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I have been debating these issues for nearly 20 years. We have never agreed o...
William Cash | 522 c204 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, I tabled amendment 8. He has described the apparent tremendous advantag...
Mike Gapes | 522 c202-3 (Link to this contribution) We need a general approach that recognises that the planet's resources are finite, so we need to try...
Mike Gapes | 522 c204-5 (Link to this contribution) I was about to seek your advice, Mr Caton. I would love to become involved in a debate on the merits...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c204 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am advised that that question is not strictly relevant to clause 6, so I invite the hon. Ge...
Chris Bryant | 522 c200 (Link to this contribution) But amendment 100 removes some elements from the Bill, while amendment 13 includes some, so it must ...
William Cash | 522 c201 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is talking about my amendment, but I am afraid that he really does not seem to unders...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c200-1 (Link to this contribution) My position is that neither of them needs to be supported. I believe that the present situation is p...
Chris Bryant | 522 c201 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman's last point about ensuring that the euro is strong; otherwise, ther...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c201 (Link to this contribution) But it has got something to do with ECOFIN and with our interest in ensuring that the euro remains s...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c202 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before we proceed, I want to say to Members that given the breadth of the debate on this grou...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c201-2 (Link to this contribution) I anticipated that point, which is why I made so much effort in response to the interventions by the...
William Cash | 522 c202 (Link to this contribution) When fish are thrown overboard, they are dead; then they do tend to stay where they are.
Mike Gapes | 522 c202 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Ms Primarolo. I take it, then, that if I widen my remarks, I will remain in order—subject...
Wayne David | 522 c194 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an important point about scrutiny, but does he agree that it is reprehensib...
Chris Bryant | 522 c194-5 (Link to this contribution) I do. It is unfortunate that the Leader of the House has adopted the approach of insisting that pre-...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 522 c194 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that Euroscepticism lies at the heart of the Bill. However, he will have hea...
Chris Bryant | 522 c194 (Link to this contribution) The attitude of the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) is rather different from t...
William Cash | 522 c193-4 (Link to this contribution) We are enjoying the hon. Gentleman's speech, but I thought I would mention that although he is right...
Chris Bryant | 522 c194 (Link to this contribution) I think that John Bright would have been appalled by nearly every economic decision that has been ta...
Priti Patel | 522 c193 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks. There is no doubt that these are sensitive issues. The Bill...
Chris Bryant | 522 c193 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel) on her speech, but it exemplified the fundam...
Priti Patel | 522 c192 (Link to this contribution) Those issues should be given proper and due consideration. As it stands, the Government and the dev...
William Cash | 522 c193 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend bear it in mind that the infamous Merchant Shipping Act was taken through the Ho...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c197 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the old hon. Gentleman's time and patience in giving way. Is not a further proble...
Chris Bryant | 522 c197 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. Obviously, a referendum would also incur significant costs. The Government are trying to arg...
William Cash | 522 c197 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman referred to the cost of a referendum, but my amendment provides that a referendum...
William Cash | 522 c197 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman refers to an amendment that I hope to address shortly. Part of my argument will b...
Chris Bryant | 522 c197 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to hearing the hon. Gentleman's arguments. However, I do not understand why it is oka...
Chris Bryant | 522 c197 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the new Liberal Democrat.
David Nuttall | 522 c195 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that such a give-and-take arrangement would be perfectly possible even...
Chris Bryant | 522 c195-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, of course. I referred earlier to the fact that we have no re...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c199 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for that helpful intervention, to which I will give an emphatic...
Graham Stringer | 522 c199 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being generous in giving way again. I participated in the debate on the Lisbon...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c198 (Link to this contribution) It is a great honour to follow so many excellent speeches, including, obviously, those from the hon....
Graham Stringer | 522 c198 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman gets to the heart of the Bill. It strikes me that a theoretical key test for the ...
Mike Gapes | 522 c199 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman believe in parliamentary democracy, or does he think that referendums should...
Wayne David | 522 c198 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, but is he aware that the European Scrutiny Committee, when ...
Chris Bryant | 522 c198 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, I have read the Committee's report. I thought it was interesting, not least because the Comm...
Chris Bryant | 522 c197-8 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to hearing the hon. Gentleman's arguments. My final point is that my anxiety about t...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c200 (Link to this contribution) You are absolutely right, Ms Primarolo. I have been taken down this track by others. I am very keen ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c200 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr Carmichael, I would like you to refer to the amendments. You have been speaking for some t...
Chris Bryant | 522 c200 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman is disagreeing with himself. If he supports amendment 13, he surely canno...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c200 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry if I did not make myself clear enough: I do not support either amendment.
Neil Carmichael | 522 c199 (Link to this contribution) Oh, I believe in parliamentary democracy. I made that clear when we discussed clause 18. I pointed o...
Mike Gapes | 522 c199 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman believes in parliamentary democracy as strongly as he says he does, how on ear...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c199-200 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before the hon. Gentleman responds, may I gently remind him that this is not a Second Reading...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c182 (Link to this contribution) Order. Mr MacShane, could you please turn your phone off? This is the second time that it has rung i...
Denis MacShane | 522 c182 (Link to this contribution) I will leave that point for my right hon. and hon. Friends on the Front Bench. I am not sure whether...
William Cash | 522 c182 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is making a big show about all this. First, there was a referendum in 1975 ...
Denis MacShane | 522 c181 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will have a chance to make his point very shortly. As Euro-realis...
Denis MacShane | 522 c182-3 (Link to this contribution) I was concluding my remarks until various Members got up to intervene. My conclusion is simply this...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 522 c183-4 (Link to this contribution) The last time I spoke after the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane), I was slightly unkind...
Denis MacShane | 522 c182 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Ms Primarolo. I thought that the phone was in silent mode, but it was not. I have learn...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c182 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can help the right hon. Gentleman to sit down. Has he concluded his remarks? If not, he ma...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c185-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship as I make my first speech on the European Union Bi...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 522 c185 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee for correcting me. He knows that I am often ...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c187-8 (Link to this contribution) That is certainly true, but I remind the hon. Gentleman that both the Single European Act and the Ma...
James Clappison | 522 c187 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. She is making a very good case in a very cogent way. ...
James Clappison | 522 c184 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 40 is very important, and my hon. Friend is making a very good speech which is clarifying ...
William Cash | 522 c185 (Link to this contribution) The investigation order has not yet been debated in the European Standing Committee, as far as I am ...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 522 c184 (Link to this contribution) I believe that that is the case, although the Minister for Europe may correct me, as he is much bett...
William Cash | 522 c188 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Lady is getting to this point, but I should like to know whether the Opposition are...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c188 (Link to this contribution) We are not in favour of repatriating power; I am simply pointing out that according to their manifes...
William Cash | 522 c188-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has been talking with great eloquence about opt-ins and the number of opt-ins that hav...
David Lidington | 522 c189 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady acknowledge that there is an important distinction to be made here? With the UK's...
Chris Heaton-Harris | 522 c189 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for being so kind to me and I congratulate her on her first contribution from ...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c189 (Link to this contribution) I was simply pointing out inconsistencies and contradictions in the Bill.
William Cash | 522 c190 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady may not remember the precise terms of the 1983 Labour manifesto, but it was described ...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c190 (Link to this contribution) I have read it, and it is unforgettable, but perhaps that is not for this debate. We have become mor...
Ian Lucas | 522 c190 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend remember the 1983 Labour general election manifesto?
Emma Reynolds | 522 c189-90 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for Europe for that intervention. I will say two things about it. The first is ...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c190 (Link to this contribution) I know that the hon. Gentleman is disappointed that back in 1993 he did not manage to win the vote o...
Tim Farron | 522 c190 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for being so generous. Does she agree that the Bill recognises the mood of the...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c191 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that contribution, and I will say two things in response. First, Euro...
Mike Gapes | 522 c191 (Link to this contribution) Given the tone of the hon. Lady's remarks, should she not be calling for an in/out referendum, and i...
Priti Patel | 522 c191 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds). I rise to ...
Chris Bryant | 522 c191 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has just said that we should have a referendum on many, many issues. Does that mean ma...
Priti Patel | 522 c191 (Link to this contribution) I have spoken previously about various clauses in the Bill and have made it abundantly clear that I ...
Chris Bryant | 522 c192 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is being generous in giving way, for which I am grateful. She has just used rather Tre...
Priti Patel | 522 c191-2 (Link to this contribution) As the debate has proved, many issues to do with the way in which we do business in this country are...
Priti Patel | 522 c192 (Link to this contribution) I would be very happy if the country had a referendum on in or out of Europe, and I have consistentl...
James Clappison | 522 c206 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an extremely powerful speech about a very important point. He has referred ...
William Cash | 522 c207-9 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely, and the same problem permeates so much of what goes on in the European Union. I am anxio...
John Redwood | 522 c207 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made a very powerful comment. Many of us have felt for many years that the fisher...
Mike Gapes | 522 c205 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps when he makes his own speech the hon. Gentleman will be able to clarify whether the Liberal ...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c205 (Link to this contribution) I note the accusation of Stockholm syndrome, but I suspect that the hon. Gentleman is suffering from...
William Cash | 522 c205 (Link to this contribution) Excellent amendments have been tabled by my hon. Friends the Members for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harr...
William Cash | 522 c209 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right on that important point, and I was immediately coming to it—I...
Mike Gapes | 522 c209 (Link to this contribution) Just for the record, is it not a fact that the outgoing Chancellor would have consulted the then sha...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c209 (Link to this contribution) I am following the discussion with great interest and some concern. As I understand it, we are talki...
Wayne David | 522 c210 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised an extremely important point. I wish to emphasise that he is correct t...
William Cash | 522 c210 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I have engaged in debates on the European question since we first met. I have...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c209-10 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being very patient with us and the serious explanation he is giving is well wo...
William Cash | 522 c209 (Link to this contribution) People keep saying that, but let us examine the actual operation of the European financial stability...
John Redwood | 522 c211 (Link to this contribution) Although we must ask the former Chancellor and the Chancellor to speak for themselves, as I understa...
William Cash | 522 c210-1 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely, and I shall elaborate on that very quickly. Article 122 concerns matters of emergency an...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c210 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is very patient. I normally agree with his vi...
William Cash | 522 c210 (Link to this contribution) I was not necessarily here when an impression was being given one way or the other. What I do know i...
William Cash | 522 c211 (Link to this contribution) It was indeed. Furthermore, this is not just a bit of esoteric dancing on the head of a pin. The Sel...
John Redwood | 522 c211 (Link to this contribution) As I understand it, the current Chancellor refused to make a decision. It was not a co-decision. He ...
William Cash | 522 c211-2 (Link to this contribution) I am very happy for that matter to be looked into further. My right hon. Friend might well be right,...
William Cash | 522 c212-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have here an incredibly interesting article from this week's e...
John Redwood | 522 c212 (Link to this contribution) On the important point raised by the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Austin Mitchell), is it not the ...
William Cash | 522 c213 (Link to this contribution) The short answer is not at all—that is the problem. That is why I tabled the amendment. I am very sa...
James Clappison | 522 c213 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to my hon. Friend with great interest. In his analysis, if the events that he predict...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c213 (Link to this contribution) I am puzzled, because the hon. Gentleman is attaching his faith to the €400 billion fund, which woul...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c213-4 (Link to this contribution) This is an important amendment for which I shall certainly vote, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman ...
William Cash | 522 c213 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is not wrong to say that the situation has already taken place for Ireland, but t...
William Cash | 522 c214-5 (Link to this contribution) That is a general proposition with which one might agree in many instances, but analysis of the use ...
James Clappison | 522 c215-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr Cash), who made an important cont...
Martin Horwood | 522 c217 (Link to this contribution) I just want to clarify the practicality of the hon. Gentleman's suggestion. He mentioned minimum jud...
Nick Boles | 522 c258 (Link to this contribution) On a related point, it is dangerous ever to underestimate the deviousness of those who wish to build...
David Lidington | 522 c258 (Link to this contribution) No, in the circumstances that my hon. Friend describes, in which an omnibus treaty amendment is deli...
David Nuttall | 522 c257 (Link to this contribution) Does that not lead us to the interesting question of whether there is a practical maximum number of ...
David Lidington | 522 c257-8 (Link to this contribution) Although one can never guarantee against the utterly implausible happening, the scenario that my hon...
David Lidington | 522 c258 (Link to this contribution) As I said in response to an earlier intervention, if different decisions about treaty amendments wer...
Charlie Elphicke | 522 c258 (Link to this contribution) On this matter of referendums being held on the same day, will the Minister explain the revenue impl...
David Lidington | 522 c259 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend means well, but I would urge him to have more confidence in our fellow...
David Nuttall | 522 c259 (Link to this contribution) On the binary question, and whether we should have no/yes or yes/no, does the Minister agree that it...
David Lidington | 522 c258-9 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend will allow me, I want to make a bit of progress. In particular, I want to deliver ...
David Lidington | 522 c255 (Link to this contribution) We try to do both. We in the Government can pride ourselves on enjoying a rather better relationship...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 522 c255 (Link to this contribution) It is key not only that Ministers from the devolved regions make representations and that the Minist...
David Lidington | 522 c255 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a perfectly fair point. He will know that the Prime Minister personal...
David Lidington | 522 c255-6 (Link to this contribution) Clause 12 provides that separate questions should be set out on a referendum ballot paper in specifi...
David Nuttall | 522 c256 (Link to this contribution) I can quite easily see how it would be a significant saving to the public purse to have more than on...
David Lidington | 522 c257 (Link to this contribution) There is a principle in the interpretation of the law that the singular can include the plural. If t...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 522 c256 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the point made by the hon. Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall), and the Minister has sai...
David Lidington | 522 c257 (Link to this contribution) That is one of the very good reasons for not trying to cover all the ground in this Bill. That kind ...
Christopher Pincher | 522 c257 (Link to this contribution) I suspect that the number of occasions on which multiple referendum questions are on the ballot pape...
David Lidington | 522 c262 (Link to this contribution) On my hon. Friend's second point, I do not have precise figures. Clearly, our experience of national...
David Lidington | 522 c260-1 (Link to this contribution) I go back to what I said earlier: I trust the people. If a Government wanted to ask people to vote a...
Charlie Elphicke | 522 c261-2 (Link to this contribution) I want to make a few brief points and hope that the Minister will come back to me on them. I note th...
David Lidington | 522 c264 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend's helpful intervention will probably have given some reassurance to the hon. Member f...
David Lidington | 522 c263 (Link to this contribution) The Electoral Commission was rightly established as an independent body. I think it important for th...
Wayne David | 522 c263 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the Minister says about an appropriate public debate and a high degree of awareness, but...
David Lidington | 522 c262-3 (Link to this contribution) Clause 13 covers the role of the independent Electoral Commission in the administering of any future...
David Nuttall | 522 c259 (Link to this contribution) I want to make it absolutely clear that I entirely agree with the principle of trusting the people. ...
David Lidington | 522 c260 (Link to this contribution) Before I give way to my hon. Friend, may I just say that I am very conscious that we have another im...
David Nuttall | 522 c260 (Link to this contribution) I, too, am conscious of that. The Minister says that the Irish situation was a rare occurrence, but ...
David Lidington | 522 c260 (Link to this contribution) The Bill makes it very clear that the referendum condition has to be satisfied, in the circumstances...
Wayne David | 522 c260 (Link to this contribution) This is an important, although admittedly hypothetical, point. However, let us not forget what happe...
David Lidington | 522 c253 (Link to this contribution) Our position is that people who are resident in the United Kingdom and who are enfranchised for gene...
David Nuttall | 522 c253 (Link to this contribution) The explanatory notes on clause 11—perhaps we ought to refer to them as the first edition of the exp...
Robert Buckland | 522 c251 (Link to this contribution) Will the franchise for voting in a referendum under this legislation be extended to peers, whether o...
David Lidington | 522 c251 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is perfectly right to be alert to any sign of judicial activism, but I assure him tha...
Charlie Elphicke | 522 c251 (Link to this contribution) The European Court of Human Rights ruled on prisoner voting in, I believe, Hirst v. the United Kingd...
David Lidington | 522 c251 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, the Government are considering how to comply with the Court's decision. Art...
David Lidington | 522 c252-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall bear your guidance very firmly in mind, Mr Brady, and simply say that the Government do not ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c252 (Link to this contribution) Order. That is outside the scope of the clause, which is about people who are entitled to vote.
Charlie Elphicke | 522 c252 (Link to this contribution) One concern that I have about using the referendum mechanism is that it does not contain thresholds....
David Lidington | 522 c251-2 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether this delights my hon. Friend, but peers would be able to vote in a referendum;...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 522 c254 (Link to this contribution) As far as Northern Ireland is concerned—I cannot speak for Scotland or Wales—the objection has alway...
David Lidington | 522 c254-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his comments. The other point that a future Governmen...
Wayne David | 522 c255 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Minister's partial reassurance, but may I press him on it? The important thing is for ...
Charlie Elphicke | 522 c253 (Link to this contribution) I hate to press the cause of the people of Gibraltar, but I understand that for the purposes of elec...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c254 (Link to this contribution) I have just two questions of clarification for the Minister and to ask him whether he can confirm th...
David Lidington | 522 c253 (Link to this contribution) No, I think that we have drawn a fair distinction by saying that it is right to confine the electora...
Nick Boles | 522 c254 (Link to this contribution) In the United States, where much more use is made of local referendums in states such as California,...
David Lidington | 522 c254 (Link to this contribution) We will not give a commitment about specific dates for referendums that are not going to be held bef...
David Lidington | 522 c254 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I suspect that a number of Members of all parties can recall ...
David Lidington | 522 c236-7 (Link to this contribution) Clause 6 lists those decisions that would always require approval by an Act of Parliament and a refe...
Ben Gummer | 522 c236 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but if the hon. Lady does not mind, I am going to wrap up now. What the Opposition do n...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c236 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Ben Gummer | 522 c236 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that, but the British people have lost their trust in what the Opposition ...
Ben Gummer | 522 c235 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady, who made an excellent speech earlier—I believe—said then that she had not read the 19...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c235 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is very gracious. Is it not the case that the Conserva...
Ben Gummer | 522 c235 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Mr Brady. As the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr David) knows, my general point is that...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c235 (Link to this contribution) Order. In order to ensure that the voice of the hon. Member for Ipswich (Ben Gummer) is picked up, m...
Wayne David | 522 c234 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has referred to Turkey. I hope that he has not forgotten that, as we discussed ye...
Ben Gummer | 522 c234 (Link to this contribution) I had many comments to make but, happily, my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr Cash) has covered ...
David Lidington | 522 c250 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. Of course, we must look at the question of whether the franchise ...
Christopher Pincher | 522 c250 (Link to this contribution) This is not the time to talk about changes to the Representation of the People Act 2000, although it...
Wayne David | 522 c249-50 (Link to this contribution) May I take the Minister back to what he was saying about the Electoral Commission and possible finan...
David Lidington | 522 c248-9 (Link to this contribution) It would be helpful if, by way of introduction, I gave a brief explanation of our approach to how th...
Charlie Elphicke | 522 c250 (Link to this contribution) On the issue of who can vote in referendums, I notice that specific mention is made of the right of ...
David Lidington | 522 c250 (Link to this contribution) We would certainly want to avoid that and would look at the experience that the hon. Gentleman descr...
David Lidington | 522 c237-8 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, given the time allowed, I must first try to do justice to the...
David Lidington | 522 c238-41 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is therefore important that we focus the referendum lock on t...
Gavin Williamson | 522 c238 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend feel that if amendment 81 were accepted and there were a vote, and if noth...
Jim Shannon | 522 c232 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member mentioned regionalisation and the opportunity for other parts of the UK to be in con...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c232 (Link to this contribution) I share the approach that the hon. Gentleman outlines. It is the fishing communities who understand ...
David Nuttall | 522 c232 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that, by definition, if citizens of another European Union member state ar...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c232 (Link to this contribution) I simply do not agree. If rights are transferred to the EU level, every European citizen will benefi...
Andrew Turner | 522 c232 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that they have rights and we have liabilities, and that is the difference?...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c232-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend and I share an interest in many matters, and I was delighted that the other place cam...
William Cash | 522 c233 (Link to this contribution) On the question of human rights—of course, our manifesto committed us to the repeal of the Human Rig...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c233 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. The European Human Rights Act gave rights ...
David Nuttall | 522 c233 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is touching on one of the fundamental differences between how the European Union sees...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c232 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point. We need to be careful what we wish for. Many of the amendmen...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c230 (Link to this contribution) In fact, what we know from yesterday's debate in this Committee is that the Labour party, given the ...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c230-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, but it is not for me to judge who or what might be an embarrassment...
Priti Patel | 522 c231 (Link to this contribution) As I said earlier, the amendment would not reform the policy per se, but I tabled it because the fut...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c230 (Link to this contribution) The Bill is absolutely clear on that. A number of criteria have to be met and a number of hurdles mu...
William Cash | 522 c230 (Link to this contribution) Almost everything the hon. Gentleman says demonstrates the complete divergence of views between many...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c231 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention and I am sure that the fact that the Committee will look at this...
Martin Horwood | 522 c231 (Link to this contribution) What is my hon. Friend's opinion on some of the other amendments that have been tabled? Does he thin...
Thomas Docherty | 522 c231 (Link to this contribution) It might help the debate to know that the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, of which I ...
Thomas Docherty | 522 c230 (Link to this contribution) Did I hear the hon. Gentleman correctly? Did he say a moment ago that there will be no further signi...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c229 (Link to this contribution) That is true—and then the EU forces us to eat its overpriced agricultural products. The EU gets it a...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c228 (Link to this contribution) I want to reinforce what my hon. Friend is saying. We have a massive trade deficit with the rest of ...
Martin Horwood | 522 c229 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that Iceland has just unilaterally increased its mackerel quotas, which ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c229 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I suggest that we are ranging a little wide? Ranging as far as discussing Iceland might b...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c229 (Link to this contribution) You are absolutely right, Mr Brady. By raising mackerel, the Liberal Democrats were seeking to bring...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c229 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Anybody watching us must thin...
William Cash | 522 c229 (Link to this contribution) I cannot resist intervening. The hon. Gentleman knows perfectly well that the Minister for Europe ha...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c229 (Link to this contribution) I feel like I am entering into my own version of ““Back to the Future”” in debating the EU with the ...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c230 (Link to this contribution) I am more than happy to give way to the Opposition spokesman.
Wayne David | 522 c230 (Link to this contribution) To add to the thesis of the hon. Member for Stone (Mr Cash), given that the Labour party is not in f...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c227 (Link to this contribution) That is true. It gives any verdict one wants, provided that it supports and advances the EU. That is...
Jim Shannon | 522 c227 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that people from the UK are very generous people, and that they alw...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c226-7 (Link to this contribution) Right, and then it will lapse. Until then, we could be liable for enormous sums. Imagine what the Br...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c227 (Link to this contribution) Again, I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. The ECJ has shown itself to be a political organ, not a...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c228 (Link to this contribution) Oh it is difficult talking to Liberal Democrats! I did not actually say that we would be outside the...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c228 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman really saying that we are both outside the euro and outside the effects of the...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c228 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that that is ridiculous. I was leaping with joy when the hon. Gentleman, a Liberal Democ...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c228 (Link to this contribution) I take the hon. Gentleman's point, but can he imagine a situation in which rather than being a giver...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c228 (Link to this contribution) I have not actually said that, have I? I have said that the Chancellor treated the Irish case as a o...
Ben Gummer | 522 c227 (Link to this contribution) Notwithstanding our treaty obligations, it seems to me that the hon. Gentleman is getting hung up on...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c227 (Link to this contribution) I agree absolutely, and that line in the sand is here. Actually, it has to be a line in the concrete...
Martin Horwood | 522 c224 (Link to this contribution) I am just intrigued about precisely what method the hon. Gentleman would use to defend our waters. T...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c224 (Link to this contribution) Frankly, yes. However, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is not so distrustful of our European partn...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c225 (Link to this contribution) During the debate on the exchange rate mechanism, I remember the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-...
William Cash | 522 c226 (Link to this contribution) I add a point that I really ought to have made in my own contribution. When the European Council arr...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c226 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that point, which is absolutely true. We are earning a surplus in the rest of the ...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c226 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely right. We need to be intellectually devious in trying to read through European documents,...
William Cash | 522 c225 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman be interested to know that the Library has given me some figures showing th...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c225 (Link to this contribution) That is true. Under the old system, the inflation rates in France and Italy were higher than that in...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c223 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right, as usual. The key is the ability of a nation to control its own ...
Martin Horwood | 522 c223 (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Gentleman's point, but does he not fear that if we returned fisheries entirely...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c222-3 (Link to this contribution) I rise to speak for two reasons. First, I do not want all the speeches from Opposition Members to be...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c223 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, I agree entirely with everything he is saying. Does he agree that we could ...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c223 (Link to this contribution) That, of course, is nonsense, because nations that have taken control of their own waters and their ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c224 (Link to this contribution) I support my hon. Friend, yet again. Clearly, it is simple to monitor what is landed in one's own co...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c224 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman wants to express more devotion to the farce of the European Union, he is welco...
Austin Mitchell | 522 c224 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Liberal Democrats are slavish in their idealism of Europe at...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c224 (Link to this contribution) Spanish fleets would not fish in our waters, because the idea is that countries would fish in their ...
James Clappison | 522 c218 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is furrowing his brow, so perhaps I can help him. We have heard it argued so many...
James Clappison | 522 c218-9 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is again quite wrong. None of the items being put forward by the...
Martin Horwood | 522 c219 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being generous with his time. My point is not really about the point of princi...
James Clappison | 522 c219 (Link to this contribution) It is difficult in the field of civil and criminal procedure to disconnect one step from another. Th...
William Cash | 522 c219-20 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere is not only an expert on this matter, but knows what he is t...
James Clappison | 522 c220-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood), whose opinions differ from mine, has made his case ...
James Clappison | 522 c221 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Gentleman, who has been very reasonable on these matters.
James Clappison | 522 c221-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point, and my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry, who made an extre...
Martin Horwood | 522 c221 (Link to this contribution) I return the compliment. The hon. Gentleman is spending a lot of time talking about the existing scr...
Denis MacShane | 522 c180 (Link to this contribution) Again, this shows a failure to understand that if we do not like a treaty, there is an alternative. ...
Denis MacShane | 522 c176 (Link to this contribution) My treat, which I can never find the resources or time to put into effect, is to send the comments t...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c200 (Link to this contribution) Thank you very much, Ms Primarolo. The problem is that I keep on getting interrupted. I have four a...
William Cash | 522 c206-7 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who, as a member of the European Scrutiny Committee, played...
David Lidington | 522 c256 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a sensible suggestion, and I am sure that the Government of the day and the Ele...
David Lidington | 522 c259-60 (Link to this contribution) As far as I am aware, there is no particular reason for it. However, the Electoral Commission will h...
Wayne David | 522 c260 (Link to this contribution) I am tempted to ask the Minister whether Welsh will appear above English on the ballot papers in Wal...
David Lidington | 522 c260 (Link to this contribution) What happened in Ireland was that the Irish Government went back to their EU partners and received v...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c236 (Link to this contribution) First, if our Government had decided that the economic conditions were right to go into the euro, wh...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c233-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As a loyal subject of the Crown, I am equally pleased to be a citiz...
Stephen Gilbert | 522 c231 (Link to this contribution) I have some sympathy with the point that my hon. Friend makes, but it is a misnomer to call the amen...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c225 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my hon. Friend again. It is interesting that there has been friction recently ...
Denis MacShane | 522 c179 (Link to this contribution) May we bring an end to these individual cases from right hon. and hon. Members? I am glad that the ...
Neil Carmichael | 522 c199 (Link to this contribution) I really cannot imagine a Government repealing such a Bill—or Act, as it would be—in order to deny t...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c189 (Link to this contribution) I certainly agree with the hon. Gentleman, who makes the point well. There are elements of agreement...
Wayne David | 522 c192 (Link to this contribution) On that point about the devolved Administrations, is the hon. Lady as concerned as I am about the ev...
David Nuttall | 522 c263-4 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can help the Minister. Clause 13(a) says that the commission"““must take whatever steps th...
Martin Horwood | 522 c218 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman is making a point of principle and that what he has described a...

Subjects

Crime
Administration of justice
Common fisheries policy
Crown dependencies
British overseas territories
Fisheries
EU law
Electoral Commission
European communities
Gibraltar
Economic situation
EU action
Economic and monetary union
Northern Ireland
Prosecutions
Referendums
Loans
Peers
Scotland
Sovereignty
Republic of Ireland
Treaties
Security
Reform
Wales
UK membership of EU
European financial stabilisation mechanism

Legislation

European Union Bill 2010-12

Link

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