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European Affairs

I am delighted to follow the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Mr. Kennedy), particularly given his stirring tribute to Russell Johnston. May I add to something that I said in an intervention on the right hon. Gentleman? I consider Russell Johnston to have been a good European in both the European Union and the Council of Europe style, but I also remember his ending a five-day mission to Palestine and immediately travelling to Strasbourg in order to be present for the tail end of the Council of Europe's session there. I also remember returning from Armenia with him in the vehicle that picked us up from the airport. I asked ““Shall we drop you off at Dolphin square?”” He replied ““No, no—take me to Parliament.”” I think that, above all, he was a workaholic. It was impossible to hold him down: he always knew that there was something that he wanted to do. Irrespective of his age and irrespective of his health, he always wanted to be working, and that is exactly what he did until the very end. It is a delight for me to take part in today's debate. I want to deal with a number of issues, fairly briefly. One is, of course, the Lisbon treaty. I have to say that no one was more delighted than me when the Irish voted no. I always think that, irrespective of whether one is pro or anti-European, it is good to see an institution that seems to be going at a fair speed being given a kick now and again. I tend to think, ““Hold it back and let people reflect””. That, basically, is what the Irish said to the European Union, but now the European Union has asked the Irish to reflect. It has gone the other way, although it should not have done so. When the French and the Dutch people voted no, it was clearly Europe's problem, but when the Irish voted no, it was the Irish people's problem. I do not think that that is right. The hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel) spoke in glowing terms about everything European. She used the words ““freedom”” and ““democracy”” many times. I began to ask myself, ““What about the freedoms of the Irish people? What about the democracy of the people of Ireland? Should they not be allowed to have their say?”” Surely their voice is as important as that of any other country. What we know is that there must be unanimity among the 27 countries. I was a bit miffed when I heard people in the European Union ask, ““How dare a small number of people from one country hold back the project?”” Actually, that is exactly how the project was constructed. It was constructed to allow someone to say, ““Think again”” or ““We are not happy about the way in which this is going””, so that the project could be stopped in its tracks and we could be given an opportunity to have another look at it. I think that Europe should have considered what needed to be done next to make itself more popular in the eyes of the people. The hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire said that, in her eyes, everything was wonderful, and that those of us who did not quite see it her way had got it wrong. My response is that Europe has a sales pitch to deliver that it is not delivering. It should not bully people into liking it, because that does not happen. It should achieve its aim by actions, and by ensuring that through the very way in which its institutions grow up, they can be respected and liked. Then people will follow in its wake. What people do not want are remote politicians, unelected Commissioners, and a President whom, if he were to walk into the Chamber now, hardly anyone would recognise—politicians, that is, never mind people in the rest of the country. European politicians must start to connect with the people. During the June elections next year, we shall all be out delivering leaflets and knocking on doors, but I think we shall all be a bit surprised if the turnout is more than 40 per cent. There was a very high turnout in the United States, where a candidate really did spark excitement. I am not talking about Mr. McCain; I am talking about President-elect Obama, who excited the American people to the extent that a whole swathe of them turned out to vote who did not usually do so. I believe that what has focused resentment in this country and made it concrete is the fact that people here were promised a vote on the constitution, which was taken away from them just as Tony Blair was leaving No. 10. His parting shot to the British people was, ““You are not having that vote””. I think that that was dishonest. As we know from listening to them, the vast majority of European Union leaders talk with pride about the fact that the vast majority of the constitution is contained in the Lisbon treaty. They are not afraid to tell the people that, because they think that that is what the people want to hear. I have heard Hans-Gert Pöttering speak at the Council of Europe. I have heard him say ““The flag is not there and the anthem is not there””—speaking with tears in his eyes, believing that such symbols are important—““but the vast majority of what we wanted in the constitution is still there.”” He has no doubt that people will see that as a stepping stone towards eventually having the flag as the adopted flag of the European Union, and having the anthem as the adopted anthem.