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European Union (Amendment) Bill

If that were the case I would be happy, but unfortunately the deficit in trade in the past 35 years has been increasingly large. The deficit in our trade for the last period—2006—was no less than £38 billion a year. What we have been doing has not necessarily helped our trade balance, which is the important element in the profit and loss account when trading. I cannot accept the noble Lord’s argument. Charity begins at home—at least, I believe that it does. We have been talking about deprived areas in the European Union. There was a table in yesterday’s Daily Express—