Excessive Deficits

Part of Orders of the Day — European Communities (Amendment) Bill – in the House of Commons at 4:45 am on 24 March 1993.

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Photo of David Winnick David Winnick , Walsall North 4:45, 24 March 1993

Those are valid points, which go to the core of the article and the protocol which we are debating. What are the roles and functions of the House of Commons? Certainly, it is an outlet for grievances. It is a way in which constituents can express their concerns and we can echo those concerns, as we do daily at every opportunity.

Above all else, the function of the House of Commons is the supply of money. All the battles which took place for the supremacy of the House of Commons against the sovereign and so on were, to a large extent, involved in that issue. If the treaty goes ahead and steps are taken before the third stage—whether we go for economic convergence or not—what will be the function of the House of Commons? However much we may wish to pursue policies—even if the Government of the day take the view that such policies are desirable—if the Government know that they will go over the spending limit and, in so doing, be brought before the Commission and the Council, it is clear that they must take the view that they cannot do what they may wish to do and what they may consider desirable.

Although we are debating the deficit and so on, the core of the matter is the future of the House of Commons and Parliament. I do not wish to say that the House of Commons will have no functions and will virtually close down if the treaty is ratified. To exaggerate the position would be bad enough.

If the powers to decide how the money is spent, what polices are pursued and so on are removed, what are we left with? Effectively, we will be left with the same powers as those of an existing county council. That would be a great disservice not only to ourselves—after all, we are but the servants of our constituents—but to the people of the United Kingdom who, over centuries, struggled to obtain the sort of parliamentary democracy which we have and which I greatly value. I hope that other hon. Members also value it.

As my remarks were not meant to be lengthy, I shall conclude with two points. Unemployment is perhaps one of the most important and crucial issues at present. The hon. Member for East Lindsey (Sir P. Tapsell) referred to the 1944 White Paper on employment. It is interesting to note the last speech of Lord Merlyn-Rees in the House of Commons, which was excellent. It was one of the best speeches he ever made. Anyone who did not listen to it should read it. He specifically referred to the need to go back to the values of the 1944 White Paper on employment and the emphasis which existed just before the war ended, and said that the curse of pre-war unemployment should not return to the United Kingdom, which it has now done.

If one takes the view that we should return to as near full employment as possible, the remarks of Labour Members and the criticisms of some Conservative Members would be of little value if policies along the lines which we are debating were pursued. Such policies would make it virtually impossible to go back to what was intended in 1944 and what was carried out for some 25 or 30 years.

Therefore, it would be wrong to look on article 104c as a technical, academic matter which is not of great importance and which we are using for mischief. The policies that we want to see to end mass unemployment, provide necessary spending on health and welfare and ensure that the people most in need in our country get their right due are related to this issue.

5 am

The Liberal spokesman, the hon. Member for Ross, Cromarty and Skye (Mr. Kennedy), obviously takes a different view. If he is so critical—as I know he is—of mass unemployment, he should recognise that he is defending a policy which would make it so much more difficult, if not impossible, to end the curse of unemployment in Britain.

I regret that we are debating the Bill at this hour. I have mentioned that before, so I shall not repeat it simply because there has been a change of occupant of the Chair. It is disgraceful that such matters should be debated at 5 o'clock in the morning. I hope that I shall not be seen as unduly critical of other hon. Members on both sides of the House—I am not criticising one side in particular—when I say that it is unfortunate that they have not taken a greater interest in the debate.

I know that Labour Members' commitment to the policies about which I have spoken is no less than mine. They have campaigned in their working and political lives no less than I have done. But in so far as they may be sympathetic to Maastricht and all that goes with it, they should recognise that so much of what they want to see done for the British people, will be undermined if the treaty goes ahead.

The hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Cash) said in an intervention at the beginning of my speech that the treaty was a substantial step towards a federal Europe. I agreed. It is a step towards a united states of Europe. Those who are in favour of that, including Ministers, have not the honesty openly to declare what they want. In a federal Europe, we would lose even more political and economic independence than we would lose under the Maastricht treaty.

When I look back on my life, I value my working life because I have had the honour and privilege to be a Member of Parliament, however much people disagree with some of my remarks and however much I may cause upset. I hope that it will continue for many years to come. The House of Commons has achieved powers and privileges over the centuries. The House of Commons is the forum of the country. It gives me no pleasure to be in the House of Commons at a time when so much of what we have achieved over the centuries is being undermined by a treaty which I most ardently believe to be against the interests of Britain.