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European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, I have been at this a long time—do me a favour. I was surprised at the report part of the amendment because, in a sense, it would require less of the Government. There are four prime ministerial Statements a year. I have been told that 23 June is the date for the Statement, should your Lordships’ House wish me to repeat it—somehow I think that your Lordships might. Last year, there were nine ministerial Statements from the Minister for Europe before the GAERC meeting, and my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary appears before the Select Committee as and when required. I would argue that a lot already goes on to make sure that we keep Parliament informed. I accept that we should keep that under review, but it happens effectively at present. I will be resisting the amendment because we do more and the position is clear. The point that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, began with warmed my heart as I know that he is well regarded in the European Union—I may be killing his career now—for his pro-European stance. I know that he has made some extraordinarily well received speeches about Europe and that he is not easily taken in on issues when he wants to consider them carefully. I believe that he and I easily could stand on a platform together—I suspect with the noble Lord, Lord Dykes, too—and make positive speeches on behalf of Europe. I hope that he will look again at the treaty and at the points my noble friend Lady Quin, who is not in her seat at present, raised about the importance of moving forward on the international agenda and the relevance and importance of Europe. I believe that we could make common cause, which is a lovely note on which to ask him to withdraw his amendment.