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House of Commons (Participation) Bill

On that point, my hon. Friend will be aware that the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil), who has returned to the Chamber, was making great play of small nations and their role in the European Union. Is Catalunya not an example of a small nation that has decided to remain part of a wider union? Perhaps he did not mention that because his nationalist friends have been defeated in the past two elections: those in Catalunya and in Spain, whose Government are of course led by the Socialist party.