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European Communities (Finance) Bill

The hon. Gentleman has fabricated that. I did not say that at all. This is how I would like to see things working: the UK Government, when they go in to these European negotiations, being as self-confident in that forum as the French Government or the German Government, and not always afraid that any defence of British interests will be characterised as being anti-EU or anti-enlargement. Why cannot we simply have a sensible debate that says, ““We know that we want the EU to enlarge and that we want to embrace the countries of eastern Europe, which is in our interests, but we want to have the most robust discussion about and defence of British national interests when it comes to carving up the cost of dealing with that””?