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European Union (Amendment) Bill

The hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) says that that would be excellent, but I am not sure that his Front-Bench colleagues agree, as they are keeping a bit quiet. Accepting the amendments would amount to a rejection of the Lisbon treaty, and would leave no possibility that aspects of it could be renegotiated, as the Conservatives imagine. The simpler and more honest path for the Conservatives would be to follow the recommendation from my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Clegg) that we hold a referendum allowing us to say yes or no to the treaty after we have ratified it. We could honestly vote yes in such a referendum, but I presume that members of the Conservative Front Bench would campaign for a no vote in it—and so for our exit from the EU.