European Union Bill

Committee of the Whole House (HL) and Debate on bills on Tuesday, 5 April 2011, in the House of Lords.

European Union Bill. Lords committee stage first day. Clause 1: Interpretation of Part 1, agreed to. Clause 2: Treaties amending or replacing TEU or TFEU, agreed to.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

726 c1632-86, c1691-722

Session

2010-12

Proceeding contributions

Lord Taverne | 726 c1656 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I apologise for speaking, but I have to leave at 5.50 pm. I thought that this debate would...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1656 (Link to this contribution) If the noble Lord reads the constitution and the Lisbon treaty, he will find that the whole of Part ...

Show all contributions (194)

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1655 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the noble Lord says. His career and mine have been perfectly different. I am in favour o...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1654-5 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord raised two issues that he will recognise, after listening to the debate, are not very...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1654 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the noble Lord has clarified that because I well remember that when the Lisbon treaty...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1656 (Link to this contribution) I must say that I read the constitution and the Lisbon treaty and could find no fundamental differen...

Lord Tomlinson | 726 c1656 (Link to this contribution) Will the noble Lord clarify one point? He said clearly that there was a promise to have a referendum...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1655-6 (Link to this contribution) It really would be nice if I were allowed to answer one question before I was asked another. I was g...

Lord Tomlinson | 726 c1655 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord is missing the fundamental point that the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, is making. We are ...

Lord Dykes | 726 c1662 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the Minister for giving way so early in his remarks. I apologise for interrupt...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1661-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it would be an implausible exaggeration to say that I have enjoyed this debate, but it is ...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1657-8 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, despite the remarks of my noble friend Lord Richard, I think that your Lordships’ Committe...

Lord Richard | 726 c1657 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I shall be extremely brief. We have debated the amendment for an hour and 41 minutes, of w...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1659 (Link to this contribution) The noble Baroness makes an interesting point. I am no lawyer and I do not think that she is a lawye...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1659-60 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend Lord Kinnock, for whom I have enormous respect, corrects me on this point. I was try...

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1659 (Link to this contribution) I am following my noble friend closely, and I am sorry to interrupt him, but does he accept that his...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1661 (Link to this contribution) With the greatest respect, I think that the noble Lord is confusing two things. I am looking in the ...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1660-1 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I wonder whether I could press the noble Lord to give an answer to a question that I put t...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1662-3 (Link to this contribution) I have no idea whether that is the case with the excellent son of my noble friend Lord Deben, who is...

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1665 (Link to this contribution) I hesitate to interrupt the Minister, because this is an issue to which we must perforce return. Whe...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1665 (Link to this contribution) I was in the midst of saying that I would do that. Article 48(6) can be used to amend Part 3 of the ...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1665 (Link to this contribution) Could the Minister give us some examples? I cannot think of examples of transfers of powers that do ...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1664-5 (Link to this contribution) Labour did not oppose the Bill overall, but it certainly urged that we should scrutinise it and that...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1664 (Link to this contribution) The Minister said this at Second Reading. Labour put down a reasoned amendment in the other place wh...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1664 (Link to this contribution) It is certainly true that in your Lordships’ House there has been a notable weight of criticism agai...

Lord Clinton-Davis | 726 c1663 (Link to this contribution) Does the noble Lord gain any satisfaction from the fact that not a single member of the government p...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1663 (Link to this contribution) I am not too keen on giving way now. We have had a long debate. I do not want to be rude in any way ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1641 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend—I think I can call her that in relation to that contribution, just ...

Lord Tomlinson | 726 c1641 (Link to this contribution) If we cannot find prospective examples, can the Minister give us some retrospective examples of the ...

Baroness O'Cathain | 726 c1641 (Link to this contribution) I remind the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, about mobile phone roaming fees, on which we did an enormous ...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1641 (Link to this contribution) The answer is ““legion””. The appointment of judges to the European Court of Justice requires an int...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, these are not examples of powers being returned to a country that enjoyed them before 1972...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1641 (Link to this contribution) I am really grateful to my noble friend. That is exactly the kind of thing that I was seeking. I kno...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1641 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, perhaps it is time to have the smallest voice against these amendments. I shall do so by c...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) I just want to help the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, if I can. Yes, pretty well all the accession treat...

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) To assist the noble Lord, I point out to him the very explicit provision that ensures that powers ar...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) There is also, of course, the ability to repeal the 1972 Act, which means that we would probably not...

Lord Lester of Herne Hill | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) Another example is that, in the protocol to the treaty of Lisbon, there is a provision giving power ...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble and Europhile Lords are struggling to find examples.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I do not find them very convincing. The drift of all treaty changes, starting in 19...

Lord Grenfell | 726 c1642 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord keeps referring to removing powers. Would he not accept that there is a principle of ...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1643 (Link to this contribution) No. I am afraid that I am among those who regard sovereignty as being rather like virginity; you eit...

Lord Deben | 726 c1643 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I may talk about the question of virginity. In the matter of air pollution, we do not have s...

Lord Taverne | 726 c1643 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I may put two further examples to the noble Lord. He is very conscientious and I am sure tha...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1643 (Link to this contribution) I cannot accept those points from the noble Lords, Lord Deben and Lord Taverne. Why could we not hav...

Lord Deben | 726 c1643 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, would like to say the same about the last 16 years of...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1645 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I really do not mean to offend the noble Lord, Lord Grenfell, or any of the other 90 noble...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1644 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord brings me nicely on to my next point, which was also raised by the noble Lord, Lord H...

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1647 (Link to this contribution) As the conduit between two noble Lords of polar opposite opinions—and, as usual, in my role of gentl...

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1647 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble Lord, and I will show him this piece of paper afterwards.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1647 (Link to this contribution) That is the point that I was attempting to make. As unanimity applies in this clause, we could have ...

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1645-6 (Link to this contribution) I am terribly sorry. I am sure that the new name is at least as attractive as the first name. I hope...

Lord Deben | 726 c1647 (Link to this contribution) Does the noble Lord agree that the British Government would have had to vote as part of that unanimi...

Lord Garel-Jones | 726 c1648-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I can be very brief. My concern about this Bill centres on one issue alone: parliamentary ...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1649-51 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have a great many objections to this Bill under three broad headings. The first is the c...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1651 (Link to this contribution) Surely the noble Lord would agree that if we had not pooled our sovereignty, as noble Lords like to ...

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1647-8 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that they would fulfil that duty with alacrity. The problem then arises—attention has been...

Baroness O'Cathain | 726 c1652 (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Lord for giving way. As a very interested observer in this debate, I would just li...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1652-4 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that the noble Baroness is completely mistaken, as they have very much to do with the am...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1654 (Link to this contribution) We have heard from the other side, so to speak. I feel very sorry for the noble Lords, Lord Howell a...

Lord Goodhart | 726 c1654 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to say that I do not agree with the referendums in this Bill with the exception of the one ...

Lord Tomlinson | 726 c1635 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it will not surprise anyone who was at Second Reading that I not only support the amendmen...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1632 (Link to this contribution) Roderigo in ““Othello””, Flavius in ““Julius Caesar”” and Bernardo in ““Hamlet””—the House will inst...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1632 (Link to this contribution) 1: Clause 1, page 1, line 12, leave out subsection (5)

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1633-5 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord exaggerates my experience, but I think that he is quite right in his point. It is the...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1632-3 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord said that he would not say anything about the potentially damaging effect on our nego...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1641 (Link to this contribution) I have just been put on the Select Committee, so I shall leave that to members such as the noble Bar...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1640 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, can I test the noble Lord’s pride? Can he give us any examples of any proposals or changes...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1640 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I support the amendment moved with such charming and disarming modesty by the noble Lord, ...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1638-40 (Link to this contribution) I support my noble friend's amendment. It is the practice in this House to start a Committee stage w...

Lord Goodhart | 726 c1638 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, my noble friend Lord Deben will no doubt be pleased to hear that I agree with every word t...

Lord Deben | 726 c1637-8 (Link to this contribution) I would say that a large number of people spend a great deal of time misleading as many people as po...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 726 c1637 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I think we all know whom the noble Lord is talking about. Does he agree that the head-bang...

Lord Deben | 726 c1636-7 (Link to this contribution) Well, we could go into the referendum and opinion poll mechanism of running government, which of cou...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1636 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord referred to competence on energy. Is not an even more powerful example that of the en...

Lord Deben | 726 c1635-6 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Howell, can help us on this occasion, because I fear that if he doe...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1716-7 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I think the time has come for me to grumble quietly. We have had a range of interesting sp...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1714-6 (Link to this contribution) In the election of an individual Member of Parliament, however low the turnout is, it does not nulli...

Lord Phillips of Sudbury | 726 c1714 (Link to this contribution) I hesitate to interrupt the noble Baroness, but I cannot help observing that the point about the Bar...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1712-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, as your Lordships will be aware, I tabled Amendments 7, 8, 15 and 16, which are in this gr...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1717 (Link to this contribution) In either sense, if it was a mandate, the Labour Government did not fulfil it. The noble Lord, Lord...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1717 (Link to this contribution) It was on the voting system.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1717 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am merely pointing out that we all face some rather large structural problems in our dem...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1717 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. He is a very intelligent man and he has had enormous e...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1717 (Link to this contribution) I would be grateful if the Minister would not play hide and seek with this matter. Presumably, if it...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1706 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the noble Baroness for giving way. I really think that she ought not to use th...

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 726 c1706 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, again, I have to say that I think that when we say that we are giving up representative de...

Lord Richard | 726 c1706 (Link to this contribution) The noble Baroness has used the word ““deference”” perhaps three times. Who on earth has talked abou...

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 726 c1706 (Link to this contribution) I think that the noble Lord, Lord Richard, knows exactly what I am talking about, and what I am talk...

Lord Richard | 726 c1704 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have listened to the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, with great interest. He is about the onl...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1702-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, perhaps I might interject that I was discussing with one of my Conservative colleagues the...

Lord Phillips of Sudbury | 726 c1703-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I start from a position of being strongly in favour of this country of ours remaining part...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1701 (Link to this contribution) I have no more to say except to share the hope of the noble Lord, Lord Hurd, that the Minister, if h...

Baroness Brinton | 726 c1711-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I wish to speak against the amendments. I am grateful to other colleagues for having menti...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1712 (Link to this contribution) I shall not argue about the vox populi after the referendum—I might have been one of the voxes and I...

Baroness Brinton | 726 c1712 (Link to this contribution) It is very interesting how many people think they voted Liberal Democrat in May 2010. Had they done ...

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne | 726 c1708 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am one of those who the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock, has not recognised this eve...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1708 (Link to this contribution) The noble Baroness is absolutely the last person who would be Miss Invisible to me. I have the great...

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne | 726 c1708-10 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord is of course a gallant Scot and turns a beautiful compliment. However, I have to disa...

Lord Tomlinson | 726 c1710-1 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, we have heard two speeches from the Liberal Democrat Benches— from the noble Lord, Lord Ph...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1706 (Link to this contribution) I did not say that. I said that I shared the view expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Howell, that the...

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 726 c1706-7 (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Lord for reminding us of his exact words. It will be useful to read Hansard when i...

Lord Grenfell | 726 c1707-8 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for not hearing all the introduction of the noble Lord, Lord Williamson. I was searching...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1686 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I apologise that I had not cited the treaty of Utrecht. The noble Baroness will of course ...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1686 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I will do so and I hope for further clarification on these points. I beg leave to withdraw...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1685 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I offer to get the sharpest minds in the Government to look at this again and see if there...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1685-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I thank the Minister. The thought of him as a French spy is vastly entertaining; I had nev...

Lord Williamson of Horton | 726 c1691-2 (Link to this contribution) 5: Clause 2, page 2, line 21, leave out paragraph (c) and insert— ““(c) following the holding of the...

Lord Williamson of Horton | 726 c1692-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I declared an interest at Second Reading and I now rise for the first time in Committee to...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1684 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness. I am sorry if I transgressed in some way. Strangely e...

Baroness Butler-Sloss | 726 c1685 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I do not want to strike a note of discord with the Minister or indeed with the noble Lord,...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1684 (Link to this contribution) I’m sorry?

Baroness Anelay of St Johns | 726 c1684 (Link to this contribution) I would be grateful if the noble Lord took his seat. I appreciate that he is the most courteous of M...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1696 (Link to this contribution) Yes, it was in 1979. There, the 40 per cent threshold was introduced by a few people who were not ve...

Baroness Williams of Crosby | 726 c1698-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I add briefly to what the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, has said by making a couple of addition...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1699-700 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in my heart of hearts, I take a harder position than the noble Lords, Lord Williamson and ...

Lord Williamson of Horton | 726 c1700-1 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 5 would establish an advisory referendum in all cases and not only in the case where there...

Countess of Mar | 726 c1693 (Link to this contribution) I have to tell noble Lords that if Amendment 5 or Amendment 6 is agreed to, I cannot call Amendment ...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1693-4 (Link to this contribution) I support the noble Lord’s amendment. I am not someone who likes referenda at all, in any circumstan...

Lord Hurd of Westwell | 726 c1694-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I may not be alone in your Lordships’ House in feeling a little weary that, after all this...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1696 (Link to this contribution) As I understand it, Amendment 5 would restore parliamentary democracy. I think that that is about ri...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1696 (Link to this contribution) It was in 1979.

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1680 (Link to this contribution) I would have preferred the previous Government to have taken an even more robust line on the Stuart ...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1679-80 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to do so. I recognise that there are a number of complex judicial as well as parliamentar...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1682 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the Minister may or may not be relieved to hear that this is another probing amendment—or,...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1681-2 (Link to this contribution) 4: Clause 2, page 2, leave out lines 18 and 19 and insert— ““(i) throughout the United Kingdom if th...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1680 (Link to this contribution) I foresee that when we get to the debate on Clause 18 we shall have a great many discussions on the ...

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 726 c1680 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether I might help my noble friend a little, because the point brought up by the noble Lo...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1680 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, my understanding, and I stress that I am not a lawyer, is that it is the ministerial judgm...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1683 (Link to this contribution) It was years ago, as the noble Lord says, but every time that I questioned it in opposition I was re...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1682-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am extremely glad that the noble Lord, Lord McNally, has just joined me on the Bench as ...

Baroness Anelay of St Johns | 726 c1684 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it is the custom of the House that two noble Lords should not be standing at the same time...

Baroness Butler-Sloss | 726 c1684 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1684 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1684 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have scars on my back from the extent clause. I have tried on previous occasions to rais...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1683-4 (Link to this contribution) I ought not to be satisfied by that; when we are drafting legislation in this place, we should try t...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1683 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I think that this is the point where I should refer to Protocol 3 to the 1972 treaty of ac...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1683 (Link to this contribution) I think that I heard the Minister say that if an issue affected Gibraltar alone, some very interesti...

Baroness Anelay of St Johns | 726 c1673 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, of course I do not seek closure. I know that my noble friend has been very generous in his...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1673-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for his considered reply. I strongly agree with his point about public...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1669 (Link to this contribution) I am deeply sorry, but I think that there is a fundamental point to be made here. There is a confusi...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1669 (Link to this contribution) If I may just finish my sentence. The list builds up a picture of sensible attempts by member states...

Lord Grenfell | 726 c1670 (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Lord for giving way. Could we please try to get this straight once and for all? Th...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1669-70 (Link to this contribution) It is simply because the simplified revision procedure involves changes in the treaty. In many cases...

Lord Maclennan of Rogart | 726 c1672 (Link to this contribution) Before my noble friend sits down—

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1670-2 (Link to this contribution) I will call the noble Lord my noble friend because he is that. He will recall how we went around and...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1672-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I really cannot agree with that. The Chief Whip is suggesting that there should be a limit...

Baroness Anelay of St Johns | 726 c1672 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, my noble friend has sat down and there has been an agreement through the usual channels th...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1679 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that we need pursue this matter this evening, but can the Minister be more precise wh...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1674 (Link to this contribution) I hesitate to do to the noble Lord what has been done to me for the past two hours—constant interrup...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1675-7 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in moving Amendment 3 I hope that I shall not stir up quite as many areas of difficulty as...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1675 (Link to this contribution) 3: Clause 2, page 2, line 13, at end insert— ““( ) Where the treaty is the subject of a challenge in...

Lord Tomlinson | 726 c1674-5 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I hoped not to have to move my opposition to Clause 1 standing part of the Bill. After the...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1679 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Lord is raising a point whose subtlety is close to that with which juristes ling...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1679 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has gone into an interesting point, which I wanted to ask about. The Stuart Wheeler cas...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1678-9 (Link to this contribution) We have had a technical debate—thank goodness, in a sense. I shall dash back home and get my Europea...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1677-8 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend’s amendment addresses a situation that I regard as a nightmare, in which not merely ...

Lord Liddle | 726 c1669 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1668-9 (Link to this contribution) I was just about to make points on the question raised. It would have been reasonable—I would not pu...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1668 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. Can he tell us whether any other member state h...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1666-7 (Link to this contribution) I think that the proposal to which the Minister was referring for giving a fining power to the court...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1667 (Link to this contribution) I think that we have agreed that we are concerned with powers under Article 48(6) and the noble Lord...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1666 (Link to this contribution) I have one simple question on the point made by my noble friend Lord Tomlinson when he intervened in...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1666 (Link to this contribution) I have given some examples from the past and I have some more here. There have been 51 vetoes to una...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1666 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister answer one—

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1666 (Link to this contribution) I will have to plead with your Lordships that if they want answers to all their questions, I cannot ...

Lord Howell of Guildford | 726 c1665-6 (Link to this contribution) I understand the feeling of the noble Lord on this, but I want to come in a moment to the reasons wh...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1718-9 (Link to this contribution) All of it, indeed. I will investigate why it has not yet been published. I assume there is a delay, ...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1719 (Link to this contribution) Before the Minister moves from this point, perhaps I may follow up on the question posed by my noble...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1719-20 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord is extremely good at interrupting Ministers and others in full flow. I repeat: Parlia...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1719 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has made an interesting and important statement. He has obviously thought carefully abo...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1719 (Link to this contribution) I am sure the noble Lord is as expert on parliamentary sovereignty as I am. No Parliament can bind i...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1720-1 (Link to this contribution) It is hard enough that one of the first experts on the European Union whom I ever met when I was a j...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1720 (Link to this contribution) Would the Minister accept that he made a slightly selective quotation from Professor Bogdanor’s memo...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1720 (Link to this contribution) I wish to resist getting too far into hypothetical issues about what might happen in a great emergen...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1720 (Link to this contribution) I have an important point and apologise for taking up time, particularly at this hour. The Minister ...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1721 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am not sure whether the noble Lord is aware of the impact of what he said a few moments ...

Lord Williamson of Horton | 726 c1721-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I want to make one or two brief comments on this long debate. When you have been here for ...

Lord Tomlinson | 726 c1722 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in view of the extensive exchanges that we have had on Amendments 3 and 4 and the group st...

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 726 c1658 (Link to this contribution) Does the noble Lord accept that, although competences are defined, powers are not? Paragraph 21 on p...

Lord Clinton-Davis | 726 c1663 (Link to this contribution) Will the noble Lord give way?

Lord Kinnock | 726 c1645 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, when the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, says that he wants to stick to his guns, I a...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 726 c1651-2 (Link to this contribution) I think that by a ““no-brainer”” the noble Lord means giving the same answer to any question that is...

Lord Lea of Crondall | 726 c1647 (Link to this contribution) There is another consideration that my noble friend might wish to add. Not only would they say, ““He...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1717 (Link to this contribution) That would take me a long time. I assure the noble Lord that I will make sure he gets a copy as soon...

Lord Stoddart of Swindon | 726 c1656 (Link to this contribution) I cannot confirm that now, but I will certainly check on it. However, there is little if any differe...

Lord Grenfell | 726 c1644-5 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Lord said that the European Union Committee has never made any difference—I decl...

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 726 c1705 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it is tempting in Committee to refer to the several speeches that have been made before yo...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 726 c1701-2 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that, if the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, put down what he described as a ““Thatcher amendment””...

Lord Hannay of Chiswick | 726 c1696-8 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I find myself in the unusual position of agreeing with half of what the noble Lord, Lord S...

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | 726 c1681 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, let me put the Minister out of his misery: yes, I will withdraw the amendment but perhaps ...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 726 c1681 (Link to this contribution) I have no doubt that we will return to this on Report and I will write to noble Lords when I have ha...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1680 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that the likelihood of judicial review is greatly enhanced by the creation o...

Lord Kerr of Kinlochard | 726 c1674 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I fear I am still unconvinced. I do not understand these powers. Can we have a definition ...