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European Council: 14 December 2007

My Lords, I long ago spent a year on these Benches. I then spent a rather longer 18 years on the Benches over there, since when I have more happily spent 10 years on these Benches, in the course of which I have never changed in my admiration for the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, a fellow Ayrshire man and one of the best contributors to this House. However, I remember that, when I was sitting over there, something called the Maastricht treaty came up; it is so long ago I can barely remember it. Being younger then, I hinted that it might be a suitable subject for a referendum. The silence on the then Government Benches was deafening, and my old friend Tom Strathclyde was among those silent. As it happens, I am temperamentally inclined towards referenda—a hush has descended on the Chamber—but I acknowledge that it is foolish of me. I wonder when the Conservative Party has ever had or hinted at holding a referendum. It did not do so even on the Magna Carta.