European Union (Approvals) Bill [Lords]

Will the Minister give way?

I will now take my first intervention.

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Europe for Citizens programme could be construed as no more than...

I do not want to get ahead of myself, because I must first cover the specific regulations. My hon...

Will the Minister give way?

I will now take my second intervention.

How does the Minister’s earlier example meet the test of subsidiarity?

It is not a question of subsidiarity. The question of subsidiarity applies to the whole programme...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will take my third intervention.

Does my hon. Friend agree that it would be wonderful news if the EU were not archived?

Speaking on a measure on archiving documents of European Union institutions gives rise to the pos...

I am sorry to disappoint my hon. Friend in his hope that there would not be too many intervention...

It is important to look at the kinds of programmes that will be supported by this measure. It is ...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I can hear my hon. Friend making an attempt at a third intervention.

Fourth.

It is my hon. Friend’s fourth attempt and I think it would have been his third intervention, had ...

On my hon. Friend’s earlier point about ever closer union and what it means, is he saying, as has...

What I am saying is that one should look at the kinds of projects that have been funded in the pa...

Does my hon. Friend agree that, during these times of a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe, anything...

Good point.

My hon. Friend quite rightly achieves approbation from all corners of the House for his intervent...

I suspect that the House probably feels that the United Kingdom is quite capable of providing its...

In this debate, we will find that many hon. Members are incredibly well informed and know a lot a...

Will the Minister give way?

I can hear another hon. Friend wanting to intervene, but I do not know whether or not the interve...

On questions of percentages and budgets, I understand that 20% will go towards commemorations, bu...

My hon. Friend neatly takes us on to the next element of the budget. Some 60% of the budget will ...

Oh no.

I was about to say that I did not know hon. Members’ views on the European Union, but I should pe...

Does my hon. Friend accept that many twinnings, which are jolly good, are done at no cost to the ...

I accept that point, and as a good Conservative, I am always in favour of anything that has no co...

Will the Minister update the House on the size of the budget of the programme compared with the s...

I will certainly do so, but to put the answer to my hon. Friend’s question in context, it is impo...

As the Minister set out, the two purposes of the Bill are to provide proper archiving arrangement...

Would the hon. Lady agree that the more people know about how the EU works, the less likely it is...

That should be a reason for some people to support the proposals.

As the Minister points out, that should be a reason for some people to support the programme, but...

I do not want to jump in on the hon. Lady, but there are 28 member states if Croatia is included....

I am happy to be corrected by the hon. Gentleman. His arithmetic is better than mine.

I won...

On the hon. Lady’s comments about my intervention, does she agree that grants that might be made ...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I was going to come on to the question of whether they sho...

I am slightly concerned that the hon. Lady ties the Europe for Citizens programme with the Europe...

The hon. Gentleman’s remarks are rather ungenerous. It is obviously important for people to under...

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. Following on from the point made by my h...

The money will not be given to political parties in any case, so the hon. Gentleman’s concern abo...

Given that the EU accounts, as I understand it, have not been signed off for the past 15 years, h...

The hon. Gentleman needs to look at the areas that have caused the European Union’s auditors to q...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No, I have finished.

5.21 pm

I am most grateful to you for calling me at this opportune moment, Madam Deputy Speaker, because ...

Does my hon. Friend fear that money from this pot could be used at any point to promote the Europ...

I sense that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, would not wish me to go too far down that route, but the ...

My hon. Friend is making some excellent points. Does the Bill contain any provisions or mechanism...

That is an extremely important question, to which the answer is zero: none at all. Perhaps the Mi...

It is a poker face, actually, not a Sphinx-like expression. I will respond to my hon. Friend when...

There is another point, too. A very interesting statement, which I happen to know is true, was ma...

My hon. Friend talks about propaganda and UK taxpayers’ money being used to fund it. Is he aware ...

I am extremely interested in that because I recall that a serious dispute arose only a few days a...

Order. The hon. Gentleman rightly said earlier that the Chair would be keeping a watchful eye to ...

I certainly will, and precisely because of that reference to world war one. I took part in the de...

Although we have just passed the auld Scots new year, this is the first chance I have had to cong...

Actually, such a veto already exists. The measure that I like to call “Bill’s Bill” would not eve...

I gather from the hon. Member for Stone’s speech that we are going to face a Division on the Bill...

I am listening with great interest to the right hon. Gentleman, not least because, from his persp...

I am less anxious now than I was just before I accepted that intervention. If the European Moveme...

There is a huge amount about the European Union that I would like to change. Indeed, all organisa...

It is a privilege to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael), because I am ...

I apologise for arriving late to the debate. The hon. Gentleman talks about stable prices, but pr...

I understand the statistics that the hon. Gentleman has just relayed. That just goes to prove tha...

Surely the evidence that it is not working is there for all to see. My hon. Friend the Member for...

Fortunately, that is one for the Minister to answer. There are plenty of experts on both sides of...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the idea that the Bruges Group, or the European Foundation, of whi...

I am sure that my right hon. Friend—is he right hon. yet?

No.

My soon-to-be right hon. Friend’s organisation could benefit from funding, if it changed its basi...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and I am most grateful to him for giving way a seco...

The few times in my political career when I have not relied exactly on facts, I have always stumb...

I strongly sympathise with what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but he keeps referring to Europe, a...

He should have learnt that by now.

The hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) is quite right. I will try to remember to say “Europea...

In the light of that last point, does my hon. Friend recall that the European Court of Justice ha...

I absolutely agree. It is the guarantor bit that causes the real problem in this matter.

No...

Does not that episode underline the point of our signing a letter to the Prime Minister at the we...

The latter part of my hon. Friend’s intervention is exactly right. We have a veto on the matter, ...

This money is paid by way of grant, out of taxpayers’ money, direct to these organisations. Does ...

Absolutely. In fact, the United Kingdom taxpayer is funding all this. That is why I am worried ab...

It is a particular pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris...

What about the Catholic Church?

The hon. Gentleman says from a sedentary position, “What about the Catholic Church?”

Order. I do not think we are going to go down that route. We are going to stick with what is befo...

I will just say, briefly, that a previous Leader of the House stood godparent for me when I was b...

Given that my hon. Friend is giving such an excellent speech and talking about anniversaries, I w...

My hon. Friend is spot on. He has discovered the secret of the Rees-Mogg household: we celebrate ...

Order. I do like the hon. Gentleman’s history lessons, but I am bothered because this is the Seco...

I am actually referring to the eighth paragraph of the document we are being asked to approve, wh...

Order. I think I might be able to help. As much as I welcome the history lesson, it is the length...

I apologise, Mr Deputy Speaker. I was taking the Secretary of State for Education too literally w...

To give my hon. Friend a moment to relocate his script, may I ask him whether we are perhaps in d...

My hon. Friend makes a wonderfully ingenious point. I am not sure that a coalition Government cou...

I am grateful to have the opportunity, with the leave of the House, to respond to the debate, whi...