The Chairman of Ways and Means took the Chair as Deputy Speaker (Standing Order No. 3) — European Union (Referendum) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 10:43 am on 17 October 2014.

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Photo of Douglas Alexander Douglas Alexander Shadow Foreign Secretary 10:43, 17 October 2014

I want to make some progress and then I will be happy to give way.

On the eurozone and the economy, the Foreign Secretary complacently dismissed powerful interventions by my hon. Friends on the very real concerns of British business. One aspect of the debate that has not changed since the Bill was last debated is the view of British business. It continues to speak out and speak up, warning against the risks of stumbling or sleepwalking out of Europe, which is a real prospect, given the abject failure both of the Prime Minister to set out a reform agenda and of the Foreign Secretary to offer a credible negotiating strategy to deliver that fundamental redesign with unanimity by 2017.