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European Affairs

I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for leaving it at that. I have spoken about the broad principles of the European Union as a whole. One of the other important founding principles of the EU, of which the hon. Gentleman will be well aware, is the concept of subsidiarity. Subsidiarity, which was important right from the moment that the EEC was founded, is all about ensuring that the EU at no point legislates at an EU or pan-Europe level when things could be done better at the local level. Subsidiarity has meant that we have managed to push things further than even our national Parliaments. We have got much closer to what affects the individual citizen. The concept of subsidiarity, all by itself, has given individuals far more say in how their local communities are run. That is something that the EU has brought us. It has been incredible to watch Europe evolve from what it was when I was a child to what it is today. I would not have believed even 20 years ago that one day we would have the member states that we have today or that we would make the vast expansion eastwards that we have, with all the positive things that that has brought. Fundamentally—I will finish on this point—for me, the spread of the European Union has been about watching freedom spread. As member states from eastern Europe have come in, we have seen a march of freedom, with people being allowed to speak their minds and move around for the first time in their lives. A lot of them had lived under communism all their lives. Now, for the first time, they can travel around. Seeing them here in the UK and watching them travel round Europe is absolutely wonderful. The threat of war with our European neighbours today is absolutely unthinkable, but not so many years ago it was a serious possibility. I have one very final point. We have European elections next year, but for all the reasons that I have outlined—the freedoms that the European Union has given us—it is important that we not focus on the tiny, perhaps niggling things that we might find annoying about the European Union. It is important that we go out and promote the European project, say why it is important and make people understand that only by taking part can they have a say in it. I hope that all of us, on every side of the House—or both sides of the House, even—go out in June and campaign for the European elections, to ensure that we secure the highest turnout that we can. I thank the House very much for listening, and wish it good luck with the rest of the debate.