---

European Communities (Finance) Bill

I have referred to these figures before in the debate. The net contribution is published in the pre-Budget report and again in the Budget, and that is a forecast of payments that the country will make. The figures have been set out quite clearly. I do not have the pre-Budget report to hand, but from memory I think that the net contributions over the course of the spending review that we are about to enter are about £5.5 billion, and will stay at roughly that level over the spending period. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, South-West (Mr. Davidson), who has also left the Chamber, made the point that we had done reasonably well but not well enough. I accept much of what he said. It is his right as a Member of the House to believe that this is not a good enough deal for this country. That is his prerogative. I would say, however, that if we consider all the elements of the deal, we see that it does the job. What are those elements? They include a rebate that will rise rather than fall during this financial perspective. That sounds pretty good to me. That is within the context of an overall budget that is significantly lower than was originally proposed. The amount spent on the common agricultural policy over the period will fall in value from €55 billion to €51 billion in 2004 prices. The British and French net contributions will come into rough parity in that period, which is an important step. As my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, South-West acknowledged, the net contributions that France will make will increase at a significantly faster rate in this financial perspective than they have done previously. Furthermore, we have secured a budget review, which the commissioner has said will open up a consideration in which there will be ““no taboos””. Everything will be up for consideration, and we shall be able to secure further progress as part of that review. The allegation from the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) was that we had meekly accepted everything that was said and not pressed Britain's interests. As I have just illustrated, however, Britain has demonstrably secured changes that are in our national interest. All the points that I have just made demonstrate that. It is wrong to suggest, as the hon. Gentleman seemed to do, that we have simply accepted whatever was being put forward by Brussels or by other member states.