Clause 8 — Commencement

Part of Orders of the Day – in the House of Commons at 2:15 pm on 5 March 2008.

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Photo of Edward Davey Edward Davey Shadow Secretary of State (Foreign Affairs), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Foreign Affairs) 2:15, 5 March 2008

I doubt whether a love-in is emerging in the Conservative party. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman wants to be a therapist, but I do not deny the veracity of what he says.

When one examines both treaties, one finds some similarities. I have never sought to deny that, but the similarities are on the modest measures—on the less significant, non-constitutional issues. People have tried to quantify the similarities by number—the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks talked about that—but, interestingly, not by importance. They have also quantified them by saying how much of the Lisbon treaty was in the constitutional treaty, but not by saying how much of the constitutional treaty is in the Lisbon treaty; those are two different things.