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European Union (Amendment) Bill

No. Mr. Deputy Speaker,"““The myth that we are threatened with a European superstate is still nourished in the Conservative cul-de-sac. Certainly there are Continental idealists who bitterly regret that it has faded away, but faded it has, as has been clear since Maastricht.””" [Laughter.] Members may laugh but those are not my words; they are those of Lord Hurd and he is right. It is a myth and we should see it as such. Rather than setting us on the slippery slope towards a federal Europe, the treaty marks a different point. All 27 member states agreed at the European Council in December:"““We expect no change in the foreseeable future, so that the Union will be able to fully concentrate on addressing the concrete challenges ahead.””" The Institute of Directors supports that, the CBI supports that and I support it; and it is time the Opposition supported it, too.