European Union (Approvals) Bill [Lords]

Today is Holocaust memorial day, and several hon. Members are wearing pins to signify this import...

My hon. Friend refers to a budget line. Will he confirm, as he is greatly experienced in such mat...

Absolutely. It is a mere fraction. We are talking about it today only because of article 352, whi...

As it is the clearly expressed wish of this House that we should have a lower EU budget, would it...

I understand my right hon. Friend’s point, but even if we vetoed the measure completely, the mone...

Over seven years.

Over seven years, as my hon. Friend the Minister will continue to remind us. It is very small bee...

Does my hon. Friend agree that whether it is a big or small part of the European budget is immate...

I agree. I estimate that the UK would contribute £17.8 million, so in times when we are a bit str...

It is a very large sum of money. As it takes more than 100 taxpayers to contribute £1 million in ...

I concur with my right hon. Friend. When I was a Member of the European Parliament, I used to tab...

If the money was not spent on citizenship, would we get more money to commemorate the holocaust a...

That is the purpose behind my amendment. I understand that only once, or possibly twice, has an a...

Does my hon. Friend agree that as there is no such thing as a European citizen but only members o...

It would be a bit of a surprise if I did not agree with my hon. Friend, whose constituency is nex...

My hon. Friend said that everyone here would approve of that; has he noticed that, as far as I ca...

Yes, but it is the quality that counts.

As the hon. Gentleman says, we have the cream of the Opposition here. The Opposition’s economic p...

Will my hon. Friend remind us whether it would be possible for anybody who promoted the individua...

Unfortunately, regulations prohibit those perhaps Eurosceptic organisations that are pro-nation s...

As we debated this on Second Reading, my hon. Friend will be aware that we increased the budget l...

I concur with the Minister—it is very good progress—but I would like to see it at 80% to 100%, he...

It is not good progress at all—it is miserable progress, as we have a veto, so we can say, “No, n...

I had a horrible vision for a second of my hon. Friend in drag, dressed as a former Prime Ministe...

My understanding is that my hon. Friend is not saying, “No, no, no.” He is simply saying “More, m...

That is a fair point, and I am asking for more, more, more for commemoration. Indeed, the House h...

Is my hon. Friend saying that Ministers are not stopping civil servants driving that programme on...

I would not like to say that, because I am completely convinced that the Minister is 100% engaged...

I was not going to speak, but I thought I might as well have a go since I am here. I feel inspire...

In this 100th anniversary of the first world war, would it not be entirely appropriate for Europe...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman, and according to the amendment, it could be so used. If the amen...

rose—

I will give way in a moment.

A few years ago when I was the Member of Parliament for Hornch...

By an Act of Parliament, we are European citizens. It was passed in this House by a Conservative ...

I wish I had not stood up now. I feel really depressed. I wish I had just stayed in my office and...

I am concerned that the hon. Gentleman feels depressed. It may be the tone of voice used by my ho...

Many other organisations have benefited from the programme, some of which were mentioned by the h...

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray.

I, too, have tabled an am...

I fail to see—I could also have intervened on this point during the previous speech—how grants to...

I am delighted that my hon. Friend has mentioned twinning, because it is dealt with under the dem...

Since the hon. Gentleman seems so concerned about big money in politics, why is he supporting the...

I almost always end up on the same side as the hon. Lady. She makes the point that I was just mov...

I rise to support my hon. Friends the Members for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris) and for North Ea...

What the right hon. Gentleman says about the veto is true, but will he admit that the veto was or...

Yes, some vetoes were surrendered in the Single European Act. I advised against that at the time ...

Did you vote for it?

I did not vote for it because I was not a Member of the House when the legislation was passed—I a...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr Gray.

I will not repea...

My hon. Friend is making a strong and compelling case. Does he agree that it is rather insidious ...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I entirely agree that it is insidious. Indeed, we have see...

First, I wish to express my appreciation to my hon. Friends who have tabled these useful amendmen...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the European Union is not so much a quasi-state as a virtually eme...

It pretends to be a state. It has all the trappings that we fund it to have to be that absurd con...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it seems strange that although those on the Government Front B...

I hear some squawking on the Opposition Benches, but I think what the hon. Lady says is true for ...

rose—

I will give way, of course, to my right hon. Friend the Minister.

I am grateful not only to be promoted to the Privy Council but for the opportunity to respond to ...

Of course I acknowledge that. It is what I expect a British Government to do. That the Minister h...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

No. We have a long way to go, as the Minister well knows. [Interruption.] I do not want to have a...

When I was a new MP, I seem to remember coming to the Dispatch Box and swearing loyalty to Her Ma...

I am with my hon. Friend on these matters.

The dissolution in the sense of ourselves in the...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I should declare an interest: I ...

Not for the first time, the hon. Lady puts her finger on the nub of this debate. She is supportin...

I do not share the hon. Gentleman’s view. However, there are some organisations and institutions ...

If the hon. Lady is such an advocate of democratic engagement on Europe, why will her party not g...

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, that is a completely different issue and is not what we are di...

Is the hon. Lady saying that European law permits anyone, on either side of the Europe debate, to...

If the hon. Gentleman will allow, I will come on to that point and ask the Minister some question...

Will the hon. Lady therefore explain the European Movement putting out a leaflet specifically att...

With the information available to him, the hon. Gentleman cannot show that money from the Europea...

Let us try something else. I have here a list of organisations that received money in 2007 for th...

The hon. Gentleman’s point is not pertinent to the discussion, because the question is this: how ...

There is no process for amending the regulation. We would have to vote it down and then start aga...

I am grateful to the Minister for that information.

There are weaknesses in the regulation,...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson.

We had a lively Second Rea...

Is the Minister a little disappointed that despite the absence of some of our experts, there are ...

I merely note that the experts who were present for the Second Reading debate are experts on so m...

If the amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Chris Heaton-Harris) is not ap...

I would not use the word “shocking” to describe an amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member ...

On a point of information, I am the Member for Leyton and Wanstead. I used to be the Member for H...

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. As I understand it, article 6, which covers access...

I wish to press my amendment to a vote.

Question put, That the amendment be made.

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

We have had a lively debate, both ...

The Minister makes a very weak point. Why do the Government not arrange, even with Lib Dem opposi...

The hon. Gentleman calls my point weak but then asks me to arrange a vote that this House has alr...

As the Minister wants the European Union to have extra powers and money in this area, against the...

Order. We have to watch that we do not go beyond the scope of the Bill, and I think that the Mini...

I hear what you say, Mr Deputy Speaker—

Order. I do not want you to hear what I say, but to accept what I say. There is a difference.

When I say that I hear what you say, Mr Deputy Speaker, I mean that I accept what you say. That i...

Order. I do not think that we need to progress this: we understand each other. You want to get on...

I hear what you say, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Then speak!

My right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood) reminds me of another point, which is ...

Will the Minister explain what gain Her Majesty’s Government have received from giving in to this...

It is important to work with one’s colleagues in the European Union. In the months and years to c...

Will the Minister give way?

I feel that I may have sparked another area of debate and discussion. I give way to my hon. Frien...

I am not trying to be unhelpful, but is the Minister saying that this is a bone that we are givin...

I do not know what my hon. Friend’s definition of unhelpful is. I am sure that voting for an amen...

I do not share the Minister’s Panglossian view that our debates today and a fortnight ago have pr...

My hon. Friend puts her finger on an important point in talking about many young people’s disillu...

My hon. Friend tempts me to discuss reform of the European institutions. There is a case for refo...

This is a dreadful Bill of which Her Majesty’s Government should be deeply ashamed. They should h...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that the Minister has just admitted that the Bill is a messa...

I give way to my hon. Friend the Minister.

I am not sure that my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Mrs Main) represented my views entire...

They are four British institutions that have had to take the European shilling and sign up to pro...

Does my hon. Friend agree that, although the Minister is right that the sums are modest and the g...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Bill is cretaceous—

Cretaceous?

Yes, as in “from Crete”, and we know the reputation—

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I know that we occasionally allow words from other langua...

I must admit, I did not catch the word that was said, so we will proceed.

My hon. Friend the Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) will find the word in the “Oxfo...

The hon. Gentleman is almost invariably precise on this subject, and I usually agree with him, bu...

I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and I apologise for understating my opposition to ...

I am not sure how I can follow that really.

Just agree with it.

Yes, I suppose I should agree in general principle with my hon. Friend the Member for North East ...