UK Parliament / Open data

European Union Bill

Debate on bills and Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Tuesday, 1 February 2011, in the House of Commons.
European Union Bill. Committee stage fifth day. Clause 15: Protocol on MEPs: Approval, and addition to list of treaties debated and agreed. Clause 16 agreed. Clause 17: Election of additional MEP debated and agreed. Schedule 2: Election of additional MEP debated and agreed. Clause 19: Financial provisions debated and agreed. Clause 20: Extent debated and agreed. Clause 21: Commencement debated and agreed. Clause 22 agreed. New Clause 7: Annual report on Part 1 of the Act debated and withdrawn. New Clause 11: Provision for further referendum debated and negatived on division (26 to 295). Bill as amended, reported.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

522 c741-826 

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: 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

Tim Farron | 522 c754 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I may help the Minister: essentially, a by-election in such circumstances would be under the...
David Lidington | 522 c754 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has helped by indicating that we would be making a somewhat academic distinction in t...

Show all contributions (276)
David Lidington | 522 c754 (Link to this contribution) The fact that this is a transitional arrangement means that it is sui generis. As the hon. Gentleman...
David Lidington | 522 c756 (Link to this contribution) No. The matter will be decided at the time. We will not operate on a hypothetical basis—that there m...
Chris Bryant | 522 c756 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether the Minister therefore means that the Foreign Office would make provision, whe...
David Lidington | 522 c756 (Link to this contribution) The regulations for the referendum will be those set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Ref...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c756-7 (Link to this contribution) On the Minister's previous point, may I gently suggest that the difference between the alternative v...
David Lidington | 522 c755 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman invites me to speculate on what the procedure would be were there to be a tie in ...
Graham Stringer | 522 c754-5 (Link to this contribution) To carry on with the theological argument, is it not the case that PR systems reduce to first past t...
David Lidington | 522 c755 (Link to this contribution) That was possible for a long time, but the rules were changed and the right hon. and noble Lord Bann...
Chris Bryant | 522 c755 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for being so generous in giving way, as he always is. He has suggested...
David Lidington | 522 c756 (Link to this contribution) Before responding to those points, I should clarify the method of election we would use for a by-ele...
Wayne David | 522 c755 (Link to this contribution) I would like to refer to one point relating to financial provisions. The Minister has referred to cl...
Anne Main | 522 c756 (Link to this contribution) Will a set amount be put aside in the Budget every year as a contingency fund for the possible multi...
David Lidington | 522 c758 (Link to this contribution) I will come back to the hon. Gentleman having taken advice on that point. I would say gently to him,...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c758 (Link to this contribution) I say gently to the Minister that if he goes back and reads our manifesto commitment, he will find t...
David Lidington | 522 c758 (Link to this contribution) I was trying to respond to the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), but I will give way.
Wayne David | 522 c758 (Link to this contribution) These are very important issues. At a time of austerity, as the Government say, it is of great conce...
Chris Bryant | 522 c757-8 (Link to this contribution) The Minister said that this Government have no intention of having a referendum because they do not ...
David Lidington | 522 c757 (Link to this contribution) It is very important that we legislate on the basis that we want to give people the assurance that t...
Peter Bone | 522 c757 (Link to this contribution) Of course, the situation is exactly as the Minister says while this coalition Government are in powe...
David Lidington | 522 c757 (Link to this contribution) I really do not know how many times I have to keep repeating this before the Opposition understand: ...
David Lidington | 522 c758 (Link to this contribution) On current prices, a referendum, if held on its own, could cost between £80 million and £100 million...
Chris Bryant | 522 c760 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has essentially made my point for me again. As you are looking quizzical, Mr Hoyle, t...
Chris Bryant | 522 c759 (Link to this contribution) Rather unfortunately, the Minister unpicked my support for the clause in the speech that he just mad...
Wayne David | 522 c759-60 (Link to this contribution) I take my hon. Friend's point about the comparison with the referendum in Wales on 3 March, but at t...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c758 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are getting carried away and are drifting. I am sure that the Minister wants to get back t...
David Lidington | 522 c758-9 (Link to this contribution) I will leave it to the hon. Lady to try to explain that distinction on the doorstep. The hon. Membe...
David Lidington | 522 c762 (Link to this contribution) Yes, we consulted the devolved Administrations in 2010, at the same time as final policy approval wa...
Wayne David | 522 c762 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that the Minister has gone out of his way to emphasise that there has been consultation...
David Lidington | 522 c761 (Link to this contribution) The clause provides that the Bill extends to the whole United Kingdom. The subject matter of the Bil...
David Lidington | 522 c761 (Link to this contribution) The answer to the hon. Gentleman's question is yes. The normal processes for filling a vacancy in th...
Chris Bryant | 522 c761 (Link to this contribution) The fact that the Minister and I disagree on this matter or on the Bill is no great revelation. Even...
Chris Bryant | 522 c762 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that it was the words ““the respect agenda”” that turned my stomach and made me get to m...
David Lidington | 522 c763 (Link to this contribution) Let me deal with Gibraltar first. As I am sure the hon. Gentleman will recall from when he had respo...
Chris Bryant | 522 c764 (Link to this contribution) I can feel a peroration coming on, so I just want to check something to do with Gibraltar. Notwithst...
David Lidington | 522 c764 (Link to this contribution) No, it would be a matter of treaty and law. I refer the hon. Gentleman to clauses 2(2)(a) and 3(2)(a...
David Lidington | 522 c764-5 (Link to this contribution) The Bill radically changes how the UK approaches the consideration of future key decisions on the Eu...
James Clappison | 522 c766 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his comments. This has been a worthwhile debate and a wort...
David Lidington | 522 c766 (Link to this contribution) All relevant parts of the Bill would apply to the treaty change. The Minister responsible would have...
Chris Bryant | 522 c764 (Link to this contribution) So why does clause 20 not say that the Act extends to the whole of the United Kingdom and Gibraltar?...
James Clappison | 522 c764 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 15, page 12, line 12, leave out subsection (3) and insert—
David Lidington | 522 c764 (Link to this contribution) Because the provisions for Gibraltar are laid out in clauses 2 and 3, as I have explained. Question...
Wayne David | 522 c768 (Link to this contribution) In response to the Minister's last remark, I would say simply that we have belief in the parliamenta...
David Lidington | 522 c767 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief. I think the hon. Gentleman has a bit of a nerve. It was actually the Government wh...
Priti Patel | 522 c769 (Link to this contribution) I would not rule out anything, to be honest. As I started by saying, the new clause is designed to g...
Graham Stringer | 522 c769 (Link to this contribution) This is a particularly imaginative new clause. Does the hon. Lady imagine that there would be votes ...
Priti Patel | 522 c768-9 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. This is a straightforward probing amendment, ...
Priti Patel | 522 c770-1 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely not! I believe that the Conservative party has very much embraced the views of the party ...
Wayne David | 522 c770 (Link to this contribution) I am following the hon. Lady's argument with a great deal of interest. I know that she used to be a ...
Priti Patel | 522 c769-70 (Link to this contribution) And quite rightly so. Of course, we have a House full of assiduous Members and the European Scrutiny...
Martin Horwood | 522 c769 (Link to this contribution) I am slightly surprised. Given the evidence of the past three weeks, is my hon. Friend really sugges...
Martin Horwood | 522 c771 (Link to this contribution) Many of us think that the European arrest warrant is a useful and positive counter-terrorism measure...
Priti Patel | 522 c771 (Link to this contribution) I suggest that timetabling the required number of hours and days for such a debate could be quite ch...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c771 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady acknowledge that it was a Conservative Government, with the Single European Act i...
Baroness Hoey | 522 c771-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is probably aware that the vast majority of the public do not care which Government ga...
Priti Patel | 522 c771 (Link to this contribution) That is genuinely a matter of record now. We have now seen how far the EU has gone, and that is the ...
David Lidington | 522 c772-4 (Link to this contribution) The new clause moved by my hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) raises important issues, ...
Priti Patel | 522 c772 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for her contribution. I entirely agree. The air needs to be cleared, and the B...
David Lidington | 522 c774 (Link to this contribution) Because those debates were explicitly transferred from the Government to the Backbench Business Comm...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c774 (Link to this contribution) In the interests of transparency and openness, which the hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel) spoke ...
David Lidington | 522 c774 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. My hon. Friend is not exactly averse to opportunities to debate the EU. For hon. Members on ...
Peter Bone | 522 c774 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is exactly right on that point. I have the privilege of sitting on the Backbench Busine...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c774 (Link to this contribution) The Minister mentioned competence about a hundred times in his remarks, quite rightly, but subsectio...
David Lidington | 522 c776-7 (Link to this contribution) I am confident because of what I see and hear when dealing with Ministers from other European Govern...
Douglas Carswell | 522 c777 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister not find that that is precisely the sort of lip service that was paid to reform at...
David Lidington | 522 c776 (Link to this contribution) That has certainly been a genuine problem, and it is a priority for the Reducing Regulation Committe...
Richard Shepherd | 522 c776 (Link to this contribution) I applaud the Minister's aspirational words, but those of us who have been here as long as he has ha...
David Lidington | 522 c776 (Link to this contribution) We have to do both. The two are not alternatives. Impact assessments are valuable, and they focus th...
Anne Main | 522 c776 (Link to this contribution) An impact assessment may work on EU law, but what about the gold-plating that goes on when the law i...
David Lidington | 522 c775 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. The Government seek to ensure that there is much better val...
John Redwood | 522 c776 (Link to this contribution) Does not the Minister understand that we do not want better impact assessments, but less regulation?...
David Lidington | 522 c774-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend pre-empts me, because I am about to come on to the question of cost-benefit analysis....
Lord Wharton of Yarm | 522 c775 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that this is not just about value for money within the EU as a body and the ...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c778 (Link to this contribution) We will have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves with that this evening. The Minister is stressing the...
David Lidington | 522 c778-9 (Link to this contribution) There are some elements of EU membership that could be put into such a calculus, but we cannot measu...
Douglas Carswell | 522 c778 (Link to this contribution) The Minister sings the virtues of the single market, so will he explain to the Committee why we have...
David Lidington | 522 c778 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that my hon. Friend seems to regard Margaret Thatcher as having sold out to Europe when s...
David Lidington | 522 c778 (Link to this contribution) I will give way, but I am conscious that we have another important new clause to debate and do not w...
David Lidington | 522 c777 (Link to this contribution) The Lisbon agenda was certainly a grievous disappointment, and our chief concern about the Europe 20...
David Lidington | 522 c778 (Link to this contribution) It is possible for that to happen, but it depends crucially on the content and complexity of the mea...
Peter Bone | 522 c781 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the hon. Lady's intervention. Her views on this have been most helpful and support...
Martin Horwood | 522 c781 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Lady might have been excluding the Liberal Democrats from the establishment pa...
Peter Bone | 522 c781 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but that matter comes somewhat later in my...
Peter Bone | 522 c782 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate my hon. Friend's intervention and, yet again, that supportive point. I will turn to tha...
Anne Main | 522 c782 (Link to this contribution) I was extremely cheered, as I am sure was my hon. Friend, to hear the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Ma...
Peter Bone | 522 c780-1 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Frie...
Thomas Docherty | 522 c781 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful for having stumbled into this debate. Does the hon. Gentleman not accept the dang...
David Lidington | 522 c779-80 (Link to this contribution) I do not regard as insignificant or risible giving the people of the United Kingdom a final say over...
Priti Patel | 522 c780 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for his response to my new clause. I shall say a few words, because a number of...
Anne Main | 522 c787 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend and I sat for many an hour on the Opposition Benches discussing the matter, and I rem...
Peter Bone | 522 c787 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that we are in a coalition, and we do not get everything we want, but we get the best of...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 522 c787 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not find it strange that so many Members are afraid of consulting the people...
Peter Bone | 522 c787 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely, and of course when the Liberals brought forward a vote on an in/out referendum in ...
Mark Reckless | 522 c788-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) has performed a significant service for us to...
Peter Bone | 522 c787-8 (Link to this contribution) Yes, and I will turn briefly to that point later, if I may. I wish to turn to the Conservative posi...
Jim Shannon | 522 c789 (Link to this contribution) The people of the UK are well renowned for their freedom of speech and liberty. Does the hon. Gentle...
Mark Reckless | 522 c789 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I support giving a referendum to all in the UK. That is how we should decide our future. I c...
Mark Reckless | 522 c790 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is correct, but the key point is that we can still have the referendum that the Liber...
Mark Reckless | 522 c790-1 (Link to this contribution) I am saying that the principle of an in/out referendum is important. The Liberal Democrat position, ...
Martin Horwood | 522 c790 (Link to this contribution) It is no surprise that the Liberal Democrats voted for the Lisbon treaty—we were in favour of it. Is...
Mark Reckless | 522 c790 (Link to this contribution) The in/out referendum is still an option, and I would hope the hon. Gentleman still supports it.
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 522 c791 (Link to this contribution) New clause 11 is extremely interesting and worth looking at with care, because it comes out of a mix...
Anne Main | 522 c791 (Link to this contribution) I am following my hon. Friend's logic, but it is possible to say, ““I want to stay in the European U...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 522 c791-2 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, but I think there is a slight confusion. If we have an...
Andrew Percy | 522 c793 (Link to this contribution) I do not intend to speak for long; I just want to make a few observations about the new clause. I l...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c793 (Link to this contribution) Actually, nobody has had the chance to express their view on the European Union, because it was not ...
William Cash | 522 c792 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that this is in fact a debate about an ingenious device—I hope I am right...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 522 c792-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend always puts his finger on the nub of any European matter. I agree that the new clause...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c783 (Link to this contribution) Order. This is a fascinating and amazing debate that would clearly take place if the in/out referend...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c783 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentions the astonishing sum of £41 billion that will be paid over the next five year...
Anne Main | 522 c784 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is giving huge figures. Asking the question does not necessarily mean that there will...
Peter Bone | 522 c783-4 (Link to this contribution) Of course, Mr Evans. I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, but I will not respond to it, beca...
James Clappison | 522 c783 (Link to this contribution) I will let the Committee into a secret: I am old enough to have voted in that referendum. It is not ...
Peter Bone | 522 c782-3 (Link to this contribution) As usual, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. Again, I will return to that point later. I was talki...
Peter Bone | 522 c783 (Link to this contribution) As usual, my hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. Again, I want to explore that a little later in my s...
Peter Bone | 522 c784 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend argues an important point, which, again, I hope I can touch on in a little while. I ...
Peter Bone | 522 c784 (Link to this contribution) From a sedentary position, the hon. Gentleman says that that is its entire readership. It is amazing...
Martin Horwood | 522 c786 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman like to complete the sentence from our manifesto that he quoted?
Peter Bone | 522 c786 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Mr Evans. I am also sorry that I did not finish the quotation from my right hon. Friend...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c786 (Link to this contribution) Order. That is a good try and the hon. Gentleman is smiling nicely, but perhaps he will now return h...
Peter Bone | 522 c785-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will have heard the Leader of the House confirm in the past three business questions t...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c785 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman therefore arguing that Government Members should have had a free vote on wheth...
Peter Bone | 522 c785 (Link to this contribution) As usual, my hon. Friend speaks on behalf of the people of the Isle of Wight and in response to thei...
Andrew Turner | 522 c784-5 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that some Liberal supporters on the Isle of Wight vote Liberal because when ...
Peter Bone | 522 c786-7 (Link to this contribution) I really should have added that, because it helps my case, and I apologise for not having done so. T...
Martin Horwood | 522 c787 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that what the hon. Gentleman is proposing is not what was in the Liberal Democrat manife...
Martin Horwood | 522 c786 (Link to this contribution) The end of the sentence, which the hon. Gentleman omitted, stated that we were committed to a refere...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c782 (Link to this contribution) Would not my hon. Friend's new clause strengthen the referendum lock, because Her Majesty's Governme...
Peter Bone | 522 c782 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for my hon. Friend's support and her argument. In fact, I would take it a stage furthe...
Martin Horwood | 522 c802 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is not persuaded by the argument about the jobs that would be lost if we left ...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c802 (Link to this contribution) The democratic deficit in this country lies in the fact that most people want to leave the European ...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c801-2 (Link to this contribution) Those countries would still be able to trade with us. The big difference between 2011 and 1972 is th...
Keith Vaz | 522 c803 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary's lorry and my bus met in Wellingborough, so I am happy that this issue has be...
Mark Reckless | 522 c802 (Link to this contribution) Would my hon. Friend support a relationship with the EU rather like that of Norway and Switzerland? ...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c803 (Link to this contribution) Certainly, something along those lines would be most welcome. They also have substantially more cont...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 522 c802 (Link to this contribution) Is not the truth that Members are not confident enough to take the argument to the British people, b...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c802 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is spot on, but I would go rather further. I do not believe that Her Majesty's Go...
Douglas Carswell | 522 c802 (Link to this contribution) If Labour Members are so confident about their position, why did they not support the proposal for a...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c802 (Link to this contribution) Exactly. It is not necessary to believe that we would be better off out of the European Union to sup...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c799-800 (Link to this contribution) That would be very nice, but I do not see the coalition Government repatriating any powers. For many...
Louise Mensch | 522 c799 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend and parliamentary neighbour for giving way. On that very point of th...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c799 (Link to this contribution) I cannot think of a single reason—a straight answer to a straight question—and my Kettering constitu...
William Cash | 522 c799 (Link to this contribution) Can my hon. Friend think of a single reason why we should not have a clear and positive policy to re...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c800 (Link to this contribution) From a sedentary position, the hon. Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound) says that Labour would r...
Stephen Pound | 522 c800 (Link to this contribution) We would rather lose with principle. [Hon. Members: ““Put that on the record.””]
Mark Reckless | 522 c800 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that members of the Labour party are generally in favour of winning electi...
Andrew Percy | 522 c798 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend share my embarrassment at the very idea that people from Australia, Canada and N...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c801 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman uses the words ““even if we accept””, but that is a fact. As Foreign Office Minis...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c800 (Link to this contribution) There is some dispute over our export figures. However, even if we accept that a small majority of o...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c801 (Link to this contribution) I returned from a parliamentary visit to China in September. Although they were very polite about it...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c801 (Link to this contribution) Even if we accept the hon. Lady's opinion—which is not a fact—that a small majority of our exports g...
Andrew Percy | 522 c801 (Link to this contribution) I cannot get away from my old job as a teacher. I want to help to disabuse the hon. Member for Wolve...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c801 (Link to this contribution) Of course the Chinese are interested in trading with the EU bloc, because it is a big economic entit...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c801 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman has reduced my argument to absurdity. [Interruption.] But my argumen...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c801 (Link to this contribution) The point is that if we left the European Union, we would continue to trade with the European Union....
Emma Reynolds | 522 c800 (Link to this contribution) The vast majority of our exports go to other European Union countries.
Philip Hollobone | 522 c800 (Link to this contribution) The fact that we are having to pay more than £10 billion to the European Union every year is not hel...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c800 (Link to this contribution) I remind the hon. Gentleman that the Conservative party did not win the last general election with a...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c795 (Link to this contribution) When the right hon. Gentleman says ““overwhelmingly””, what does he mean by that?
Keith Vaz | 522 c795 (Link to this contribution) I hope to be as brief as the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy). I came into the Chamber...
Andrew Percy | 522 c794 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman—my neighbour on my southern border—makes an interesting point. Thanks to what was...
Lord Mann | 522 c794 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman, with whom I share a boundary, for giving way. Is he aware that his Gover...
Andrew Percy | 522 c794 (Link to this contribution) All we would end up debating from my postbag is the state of our roads following the recent cold wea...
Anne Main | 522 c794 (Link to this contribution) If we are going to judge from our postbags, we would not be having a referendum on the alternative v...
Andrew Percy | 522 c794 (Link to this contribution) The answer is fairly simple: a big, fat zero.
Andrew Percy | 522 c793-4 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I would be happy to take him to Goole, where he could ...
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown | 522 c794 (Link to this contribution) On the point about the letters and postbag, how many letters has the hon. Gentleman received in supp...
Andrew Percy | 522 c793 (Link to this contribution) I stand corrected. Many of my constituents who took part in that referendum, including my own parent...
Ben Gummer | 522 c793 (Link to this contribution) Over the past few days, I have had nearly 100 emails and letters about forests, but since 7 May I ha...
Julian Lewis | 522 c797 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the slightly delayed acceptance of my intervention. I simply wanted to say that I ...
Keith Vaz | 522 c797 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that, but I feel very insecure every time my hon. Friend mentions the hon. Member ...
Keith Vaz | 522 c797 (Link to this contribution) That may well be so. One problem is that, in the end, we have to accept the judgment of Ministers a...
Martin Horwood | 522 c796 (Link to this contribution) I rise with some fatigue, having I thought made this point three times already, but the Liberal Demo...
Keith Vaz | 522 c796 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Emma Reynolds | 522 c797 (Link to this contribution) I would just like to point out that, as I think the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) was ...
Keith Vaz | 522 c796 (Link to this contribution) I am not surprised that the hon. Gentleman has had to explain that three times, because I am afraid ...
Keith Vaz | 522 c795-6 (Link to this contribution) It is 11 years since I was the Minister for Europe. I can well remember the day that I was appointed...
Anne Main | 522 c742 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for giving way on the statistics about the number of MEPs. Does he have any fig...
Denis MacShane | 522 c744 (Link to this contribution) The Minister and my hon. Friend have set out clearly the technical reasons for adopting the clause, ...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c743-4 (Link to this contribution) Let me say at the outset what a pleasure it is again to be debating the Bill with the Minister and t...
William Cash | 522 c815-6 (Link to this contribution) For me, the debate is not about the wording of the new clause, but about a question of principle. It...
Baroness Hoey | 522 c814-5 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that I missed the contribution made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester East...
Denis MacShane | 522 c816 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that the previous and current Chancellors entered into an unlawful act. Is h...
Lord Mann | 522 c813 (Link to this contribution) It was in the previous Parliament, as chair of the all-party mountaineering group, that I negotiated...
Baroness Hoey | 522 c812-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr Shepherd), who for many...
David Lidington | 522 c741-2 (Link to this contribution) The first set of clauses under consideration in Committee this afternoon relate to the transitional ...
Mark Reckless | 522 c814 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that we have this evening seen an honourable exception to that? The right h...
Baroness Hoey | 522 c813-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I recall vividly that he was instrumental in that. The same happens with p...
William Cash | 522 c816-8 (Link to this contribution) That is an absurd comment. I am speaking in terms of the vires of the treaty. It is a different ques...
Denis MacShane | 522 c818-20 (Link to this contribution) I have considerable sympathy with the speech of the hon. Member for Stone (Mr Cash). A year ago, his...
David Lidington | 522 c820 (Link to this contribution) This has been a passionate debate. Although I am unable to accept new clause 11 on behalf of the Gov...
Peter Bone | 522 c820 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Ms Primarolo. Could you correct me if I am wrong? If new clause 11 was not with...
Denis MacShane | 522 c746 (Link to this contribution) For the last time—because mine was intended to be a very short speech—I give way, as always, to my h...
Denis MacShane | 522 c746 (Link to this contribution) Not many Members wish to speak, Mr Hoyle, so I was trying to reply to the hon. Member for Aldridge-B...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c745 (Link to this contribution) Order. Upper Houses are not relevant to this stand part debate, so let us stick to the clause. I am ...
Denis MacShane | 522 c744-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is quite right, but if she checks the debates on the great Reform Bill of 1832, she wi...
David Lidington | 522 c821-2 (Link to this contribution) Assuming that the Bill gains parliamentary approval and Royal Assent in the normal way, it will appl...
Anne Main | 522 c744 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with interest to the right hon. Gentleman on the issue of increasing the number of Me...
Wayne David | 522 c821 (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to intrude upon private grief among Conservative Members, but I agree with you absolut...
David Lidington | 522 c820 (Link to this contribution) I am perfectly happy to abide by your ruling on that, Ms Primarolo.
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c746 (Link to this contribution) Order. Again, we really are drifting from the subject, and we must return to it. The right hon. Gent...
Denis MacShane | 522 c746 (Link to this contribution) The Verfassungsgericht in Germany, of course, sees the German people—das Volk—as the sovereign, and ...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c820 (Link to this contribution) Good say, Minister. The proposed new clause is in order. Whether the Government actually like it or ...
David Lidington | 522 c820 (Link to this contribution) I qualified my statement, Ms Primarolo, by saying, ““as the Government have framed the Bill””. The i...
Richard Shepherd | 522 c745-6 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman not give any weight to what the German constitutional court said in re...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c820 (Link to this contribution) You are correct, Mr Bone, that for a new clause to be selected, it must be in order. The Minister pr...
Denis MacShane | 522 c745 (Link to this contribution) I am tempted to say—though, thank goodness, oral amendments are not allowed in Committee of the whol...
David Lidington | 522 c822-3 (Link to this contribution) Withdrawing from the European Union is not the only choice for people who are dissatisfied with the ...
Peter Bone | 522 c823-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Minister's kind words at the beginning of his comments, and I am genuinely dis...
Baroness Hoey | 522 c822 (Link to this contribution) The Minister must know that it is precisely because of the direction of the European Union that peop...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c803 (Link to this contribution) That was an interesting intervention. I am certainly of the view, as are many of my constituents, th...
Anne Main | 522 c803 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend as surprised as I am to hear the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Re...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c803 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful for my hon. Friend's intervention. This shows the tragedy of what has been happen...
Anne Main | 522 c803-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak for just a few minutes on this particularly interesting clause, which I support. I sho...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c804 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady recognise that that legislation comes from the Council of Europe and not the Euro...
Anne Main | 522 c804 (Link to this contribution) The EU is about to be a signatory of it. The hon. Lady said that Labour has no interest in this matt...
Anne Main | 522 c804 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to hearing what she has to say.
Emma Reynolds | 522 c804 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for giving me the opportunity to clarify my position, although if she had list...
Anne Main | 522 c804-5 (Link to this contribution) From the hon. Lady's rather tetchy remarks, I gather that most of her right hon. and hon. colleagues...
Andrew Percy | 522 c805 (Link to this contribution) On the comments of the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds) about Labour Members...
Douglas Carswell | 522 c807 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is rather verbosely explaining why we cannot trust politicians with these matters...
Lord Mann | 522 c807 (Link to this contribution) There is nothing verbose in these remarks; if the hon. Gentleman wants verbose he can have verbose, ...
Anne Main | 522 c805-6 (Link to this contribution) That was not quite on the subject of the debate, but I take my hon. Friend's point. Opposition Memb...
Lord Mann | 522 c806-7 (Link to this contribution) I can assure hon. Members from all parties that the Opposition Benches are not empty. Indeed, some o...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 522 c808 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way in his brilliantly enthusiastic speech, but he is not bein...
Lord Mann | 522 c808 (Link to this contribution) Fair point. That is precisely why, on those demonstrations at Staythorpe with Unite and other unions...
Anne Main | 522 c807 (Link to this contribution) I have listened to the hon. Gentleman's remarks with interest, but I have yet to hear his views on n...
Lord Mann | 522 c807-8 (Link to this contribution) I am approaching my conclusion, when I will do that, but first there is another factor that ought to...
Richard Shepherd | 522 c810-2 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady will forgive me, I will not. I did not intend to speak for long on this. I listene...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c810 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Richard Shepherd | 522 c808-10 (Link to this contribution) At the end of that roaring speech, I am not sure whether the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) i...
David Lidington | 522 c753 (Link to this contribution) Clause 19 provides for the financial provisions associated with some of the provisions of the Bill, ...
Chris Bryant | 522 c753 (Link to this contribution) How much will that new MEP cost?
David Lidington | 522 c753 (Link to this contribution) I bow to my hon. Friend's constitutional knowledge. I suspect that having the Bill declared hybrid i...
David Lidington | 522 c754 (Link to this contribution) If a by-election were to be held, my understanding is that it would be held on the basis of the firs...
Wayne David | 522 c754 (Link to this contribution) May I press the Minister a little further on that? I am sure that what he is saying is correct, but ...
David Lidington | 522 c754 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will allow me to make a little progress, I will explain where potential costs ...
Wayne David | 522 c754 (Link to this contribution) If there were a by-election, would it be held under the first-past-the-post or the alternative vote ...
Anne Main | 522 c749 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with profound interest to my hon. Friend's remarks. Does he share my concern that, to...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c747 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister clarify whether the d'Hondt system was considered by the Electoral Commission in a...
David Lidington | 522 c747-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady knows that the Electoral Commission is completely independent of the Government, so th...
Denis MacShane | 522 c747 (Link to this contribution) Let us leave Sainte-Laguë and d'Hondt. Is the Minister in favour of the alternative vote? That is wh...
David Lidington | 522 c747 (Link to this contribution) No. The answer to the question asked by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East is that the El...
Denis MacShane | 522 c746 (Link to this contribution) Might my hon. Friend possibly accept that on this occasion I really must bow to the Chair and sit do...
David Lidington | 522 c746-7 (Link to this contribution) A number of the questions posed by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds) invi...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c746 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend, as always, for being so generous. No doubt we should welcome the extr...
Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 522 c746 (Link to this contribution) Order. That has absolutely nothing to with the clause. I think that the right hon. Member for Rother...
David Lidington | 522 c748-9 (Link to this contribution) I think that is a matter for the Electoral Commission. It advises that it has used the Sainte-Laguë ...
David Lidington | 522 c753 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, as always, reminds us of practicalities and of the real world. As I said to our hon....
Nick Boles | 522 c753 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend tell us whether these provisions are to apply only once, in one particular...
Wayne David | 522 c750 (Link to this contribution) May I briefly ask the Minister an additional question on the extra MEP, simply to gain some broader ...
David Lidington | 522 c750-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and I apologise for having overlooked that question when it cam...
David Lidington | 522 c751-2 (Link to this contribution) It might be helpful if I set out in a little more detail the provisions in schedule 2, because it al...
Anne Main | 522 c752 (Link to this contribution) The scenarios that my right hon. Friend has outlined are obviously hypothetical, but in a hypothetic...
David Lidington | 522 c749 (Link to this contribution) The changes to the distribution of MEPs between member states arose from new calculations about the ...
Kelvin Hopkins | 522 c749 (Link to this contribution) It has just struck me that my right hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane) suggested a t...
David Lidington | 522 c749-50 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins) is demonstrating that he has political ambi...
David Lidington | 522 c752-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point. It is right that in drafting legislation, particularly on a matt...
David Lidington | 522 c760-1 (Link to this contribution) First, to make the record absolutely clear, I say to the hon. Members for Wolverhampton North East (...
Wayne David | 522 c766-7 (Link to this contribution) I should like to say a few words about the clause. The whole issue of when the Bill comes into effec...
Wayne David | 522 c779 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes some very important points, but would it not be far better if he spen...
Emma Reynolds | 522 c777-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree with much of what the Minister has just said, including his comments on the Single European ...
Baroness Hoey | 522 c781 (Link to this contribution) My name is also on the new clause. I was cheered when I heard the hon. Gentleman say that we had a l...
James Clappison | 522 c789-90 (Link to this contribution) As somebody who took part in the Lisbon treaty debates, I am slightly surprised to hear of the Liber...
Peter Bone | 522 c786 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid I have already tried your patience, Mr Evans, so I will not quote any more.
Philip Hollobone | 522 c798-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention because he has hit the nail on the head. In th...
David Lidington | 522 c742-3 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to be able to tell my hon. Friend that the cost of these additional MEPs will be provided ...
Wayne David | 522 c748 (Link to this contribution) We are, of course, in a rather unusual situation with European Parliament elections, in that Gibralt...
James Clappison | 522 c765-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is giving a very helpful explanation, but can he tell me which parts of the Bill will...
Philip Hollobone | 522 c797-8 (Link to this contribution) I was honoured to be asked to add my name to the new clause tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for ...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 522 c753 (Link to this contribution) If the Bill were simply to say that Anthea McIntyre were elected, it might be in danger of becoming ...

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Finance
European Union
European Parliament members
EU action
EU institutions
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Reform

Legislation

European Union Bill 2010-12

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