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Proceeding contribution from James Clappison (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 8 March 2011. It occurred during Debate on bill on European Union Bill.


European Union Bill

I stand corrected. I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman's colleagues voted both for and against an in/out referendum, or whether they voted both for and against having a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. I do remember, because it would be hard to forget this, that one of his colleagues was excluded from the Chamber because he got into such a terrible temper about not being able to have an in/out referendum. I am not sure how many of his colleagues supported the amendment that we dealt with several evenings ago proposing an in/out referendum; the Hansard record will doubtless show the number. The fullest possible information should be available to this House and to the British people so that we know what is really going on. One of the fundamental problems of the European Union is the feeling of disillusionment that people have about its lack of accountability. We do not know what is taking place and being done in our name. The EU is remote and decisions are taken behind closed doors. Some arrangements are entered into beforehand in an entirely private way, with decisions not even being taken at the meetings themselves, but often being taken behind closed doors. We need more information about such matters.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
524 c781 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Disclosure of information European Union EU budget Powers Referendums Parliamentary scrutiny Sovereignty Treaties Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union European Council Treaty of Lisbon
Legislation
European Union Bill 2010-12
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk