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European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, that the old jokes are definitely the best and I look forward to more old jokes from that direction. I am a bit reassured by the noble Baroness that, although this raises a much broader question, in the treaty and the Bill as they are presented to us, the ideas that I have been taken to task for saying are around—and they certainly are; I have many more quotations that I could bring to your Lordships’ attention, but I shall not—are unlikely to happen, or could not happen, without changes. I am interested that she thinks that there is no loophole through the passerelle system, but that it would require a new treaty or a major amendment to the treaty and an Act of Parliament. That is the kind of language that we like on this side of the debate. One of our worries—this is almost bringing me on to the next amendment, so I shall say only a few words—is that this is the very open-ended treaty. It is a treaty made of that substance—amoebic jelly, or something—that keeps expanding in horror films. One just does not know what kind of powers can be introduced and at what point. In a moment, I will come in detail not only to the passerelle loophole, but to others and to the question repeatedly asked from this side of whether our constitutional system, our Parliament, has enough control over the movement and redistribution of powers in the European Union. Some of them may be unfavourable to us; some of them may be helpful. That is the background against which one still asks whether we can have the total reassurance that we require. The noble Baroness is in a reassuring mode, and I am reassured by her, at least for the moment, so I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.