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European Union (Amendment) Bill

As usual, I am most grateful to all noble Lords who have supported this amendment. I shall say just a few words about the contributions of those who did not. The noble Lord, Lord Radice, was generous in calling me an honest man and saying that I had finally let the cat out of the bag. However, I have been in favour of leaving the European Union since I was somewhat surprisingly put on your Lordships’ Select Committee on the European Communities in 1992, when I made the mistake of reading and understanding the treaties of Rome. Ever since, I have been firmly convinced that this country must get out of the organisation as soon as possible. I shall leave the Liberal Democrats to the end. I shall deal first with the remarks made by my noble friend Lord Stoddart, who rightly says that, compared to him, I and the UK Independence Party are Johnnies-come-lately in this matter of our EU membership. He wisely made the point, as I would remark to the noble Lord, Lord Hannay, that only 9 per cent of our economy trades with the European Union; 11 per cent trades with the rest of the world and some 80 per cent trades in the domestic economy. The mangy 9 per cent tail is wagging the 91 per cent healthy dog. The views of my noble and very old friend Lord Hamilton of Epsom were to some extent shared by my noble friends Lord Trenchard and Lord Astor. I am afraid that he descended into the well known Conservative position that UKIP is damaging the Conservative Party. That is flattering but always requires the rejoinder, ““What about the country? Which do we put first—your party or the country?””. I know which I would put first. My noble friends were also firm that, if there were to be a referendum on whether we should stay in the European Union, the country would vote to stay in. That would depend on leadership and vision, two qualities missing from the modern Conservative Party. One word of truth outweighs the whole world. My position is nearer that taken by my noble friend Lord Blackwell, who cannot be with us this evening, as chairman of the Global Vision think tank, which is that we should return to a relationship of simple free trade with the European Union and abandon the rest of the political baggage. That means leaving the European Union, although Global Vision does not put it quite like that. I agree that when you put to the people the question, ““Do you want to leave the European Union?””, the percentage wanting to goes down to 40 per cent, whereas if you say, ““Do you want to return to a simple free trade relationship?””, you are up in the 80s. It is a question of education, leadership and the debate that would take place in this country were we to have the referendum that this amendment suggests. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Howell, that I did not accuse the entire Conservative Front Bench of being ignorant about matters European. I accuse the current leadership of that and the party of guilt in having taken us into this quagmire. The noble Lord said that the Conservative Party wants to see a strong EU responding to the networked world. He wants to see the kind of Europe that, he says, we would want to work for. I say to him that, while we stay in the European Union, with some 8 per cent of the votes and the rest of them determined to do something else, we have not a hope. Finally, on the Liberal Democrats, I will concentrate my remarks on those of the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire—