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European Union (Amendment) Bill

I am delighted, and modestly surprised, to be responding to this debate so early in our proceedings, but glad that I have prepared a couple of hours in response. I am not sure whether the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) were intended to wreck the Bill, as he suggests—I think that he is being unfair on his amendments—but I acknowledge his avowed intention to wreck the Bill, and therefore the treaty. Let me turn to the specific points that the hon. Member for Stone raised in respect of amendment No. 55; he mentioned amendments Nos. 56 and 57 only in passing, although the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) eloquently and pre-emptively amplified the unspoken sentiment behind them. The amendments attack the reality of the situation—that the Lisbon treaty replaces the Community with the Union. If the UK, with Parliament’s approval, ratified the treaty, it would be senseless to seek to deny that reality. As we heard in the previous debate, clause 3 deals with the changes in terminology and numbering resulting from the Lisbon treaty.