European Union (Amendment) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 6:23 pm on 18 June 2008.

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Photo of Lord Campbell of Alloway Lord Campbell of Alloway Conservative 6:23, 18 June 2008

My Lords, if this amendment were to commend itself to your Lordships it could afford another place an opportunity to consider what should be done, and at all events that would give time for reflection. The reform treaty, in the wake of the Irish referendum, is unenforceable; no one met or queried the analysis of the noble Lord, Lord Neill of Bladen. It is as if it were a dead albatross that in some form or other is hanging around the necks of each Government of all member states of the EU unless and until it can be revived by a form of consent acceptable to us in the United Kingdom if it is other than by unanimous consent. We do not have the slightest idea of what is going on and will happen with these negotiations. We cannot rewrite a treaty to accommodate the interests of the political convenience of Governments without the unanimous consent of the Governments who have imposed the treaty's revision, as before, on the elected—a treaty which is devised to be unintelligible.

If a revised reform treaty were to be agreed, an approach to the electorate should be sought before ratification, at all events by our Parliament. We should tread steadily and warily around the debris of a Prime Minister in a china shop before picking up the pieces. Our electorate are distressed at what they see as a broken promise for a referendum, on which the substance of this amendment could have been supported and the nation would appear to be substantially divided, as my noble friend Lord Howell of Guildford has described.

To conclude—and I was asked if I would keep it short—in these circumstances, is it not the acknowledged function of your Lordships' House, established by convention, to exercise the entitlement to delay the Bill in the nation's interests, subject to the Government's entitlement to seek Royal Assent under the Parliament Acts? It is our entitlement to delay the Bill. Could it be that noble Lords from all sides of the House could give the pride of precedence to the interests of our people of any political affiliation or none and not to the interests of the Government? Looking at the last vote, that would appear to be a vain hope, but I put it forward as a proper suggestion. I beg to move.