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European Council: 21-22 June 2007

My Lords, I say to the House and to the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, that I have absolutely no problem with the guaranteeing of fundamental rights, freedoms and principles for the British people. We have done that through the Human Rights Act. I hope that the noble Lord will agree that, over many years, these rights are already enshrined in British law and we should be very proud of that. Fundamental rights, freedoms and principles are guaranteed by the Governments of the member states in accordance with national law. That is what we, the British Government, have done. Successive British Governments have felt that that is important. But there was no statement of rights binding the European Union. The charter is a statement for the Union. There is a UK-specific protocol which will clarify the application of the charter in relation to UK laws and measures. I am very proud of the rights already enshrined in British legislation. We have the UK-specific protocol because we already have those rights of which I am proud.