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European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, until the last few phrases of the Minister’s summing up, I felt that I was going to be in a position to welcome his contribution to this debate. Indeed, I particularly acknowledge that the whole House is grateful for the way in which he has declared the Government’s commitment to, in his phrase, ““enormous and fundamental reform”” of the common agricultural policy. That has been the driver behind many of the contributions to this debate. Frankly, there have been moments when I have felt like a hapless shepherd in ““One Man and his Dog””, watching the sheep scampering all over the place and trying to get them into the shedding ring, or whatever it was called in those days. I will call it the ““Contents Lobby”” for today. That is a measure of the power of this subject matter and the enormous interest in this aspect of government policy and this area of our nation’s politics. I make no apology for occasionally reverting to being a party politician. I, after all, represent the Opposition, not the Government. I have been seeking, as I hope noble Lords will understand, consensus on this issue. The consensus that exists in this debate, I believe, is that if we are going to harness the power of Parliament in order to make sure that reform continues apace, the Government—whatever Government are in office, because Governments come and go—should have the power of Parliament, and be accountable to Parliament, in driving home change and reform in this area. That is what this amendment is about. In many ways, all the precursors to tomorrow’s activity were relevant only in so far as they provided the evidence of a need for change and the reason why we need, within Parliament, a mechanism for change. That is the purpose of this amendment. From what people have said during this debate, I believe that there is consensus that the role of Parliament in these matters can and should be important. That is why, I am afraid, I cannot accept that Parliament has no formal role. I wish to test the opinion of the House. On Question, Whether the said amendment (No. 2) shall be agreed to? *Their Lordships divided: Contents, 147; Not-Contents, 195. Resolved in the negative, and amendment disagreed to accordingly.