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Emergency debate on Wednesday, 29 February 2012, in the House of Commons, led by William Cash. The answering member was David Lidington.

Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance

Motion that this House has considered the matter of the legal and other action now to be taken by the Government in upholding the rule of law and protecting UK interests in respect of the nature and content of the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union. Emergency debate following a Standing Order No. 24 application. Motion lapsed.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
541 c298-347 
Session
2010-12
Department
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
EU: Parliamentary Scrutiny
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Written questions
House of Lords
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 541 c312 (Link to this contribution) Order. I know that this is an important debate and that everyone wants to get in, but we have so man...
Martin Horwood | 541 c316-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised some of the issues that we should be debating, although they are not t...
Show all contributions (157)
James Clappison | 541 c317 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Martin Horwood | 541 c316 (Link to this contribution) I think that the right hon. Gentleman is misquoting the Deputy Prime Minister, who was referring to ...
Graham Stringer | 541 c316 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that he was going to make a really big point, but I do not think that he is ...
Denis MacShane | 541 c316 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman still share the view of his leader, now the Deputy Prime Minister, that the ...
Martin Horwood | 541 c315-6 (Link to this contribution) It is always a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr MacShane) in debates on Eu...
Denis MacShane | 541 c314-5 (Link to this contribution) And 50% of our exports go to the eurozone; therefore, it makes sense for us to help the eurozone sta...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c314 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman; I will be very brief. RBS has business in Ireland. It is ...
Denis MacShane | 541 c314 (Link to this contribution) Although I will lose time, I will give way—it is the hon. Gentleman, for heaven's sake.
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c314 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Denis MacShane | 541 c314 (Link to this contribution) Because of the breathtaking hypocrisy of the Conservative party, in that when action is needed to al...
Bob Stewart | 541 c313 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Denis MacShane | 541 c313 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I want to give time to other colleagues and do not want to ta...
Denis MacShane | 541 c312-3 (Link to this contribution) I will do my best, Mr Deputy Speaker. I do not really disagree with some of the points that the hon...
Denis MacShane | 541 c313 (Link to this contribution) And it is not as if this place is crammed full of legislation, is it, Mr Deputy Speaker? I really wi...
Peter Bone | 541 c313 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is making a fair point. The Backbench Business Committee is not given the t...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c311 (Link to this contribution) I would like to make it clear to the hon. Lady, who is making an eloquent speech, that the Oppositio...
Andrea Leadsom | 541 c312 (Link to this contribution) All the changes that the all-party group is investigating would require negotiation. Some things are...
Bob Stewart | 541 c312 (Link to this contribution) Does that mean that we can change quite easily without any further ado, simply by adopting my hon. F...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c309-10 (Link to this contribution) We have made it clear that we are not happy with the treaty. We would not have walked out of the neg...
Andrea Leadsom | 541 c310-1 (Link to this contribution) I find the Opposition's stance rather astonishing, because it focuses only on micro-details and fail...
Henry Smith | 541 c308 (Link to this contribution) I have waited patiently since the intervention from my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Bille...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c307-8 (Link to this contribution) Not for the minute. Does the Minister agree with what the Deputy Prime Minister said on ““The Andre...
Andrew Percy | 541 c307 (Link to this contribution) Will the shadow Minister give way?
Emma Reynolds | 541 c309 (Link to this contribution) That suggests that the Prime Minister's influence is greater than it is. It is up to the Irish peopl...
Mark Reckless | 541 c309 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady aware of one thing that the Prime Minister seems to have achieved with this veto—as...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c308-9 (Link to this contribution) A disorderly default by any member of the eurozone could have disastrous implications for that count...
Andrew Percy | 541 c308 (Link to this contribution) The shadow Minister said strongly and clearly that she believed the euro needed to be saved, and tha...
Bob Stewart | 541 c309 (Link to this contribution) Does that mean that the official Opposition would be happy with the treaty, leave it as it is and do...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c307 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way. I have given way once to the hon. Gentleman already. At least the leader of th...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c306 (Link to this contribution) If only the position of the Liberal Democrats were clear on that matter—[Interruption.] I will come ...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c306 (Link to this contribution) Unlike the hon. Gentleman, the Opposition believe that the stability and preservation of the eurozon...
John Baron | 541 c306 (Link to this contribution) Will the shadow Minister give way?
Emma Reynolds | 541 c306 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry. I meant the Prime Minister. I do apologise.
Andrew Percy | 541 c307 (Link to this contribution) Will the shadow Minister give way?
Emma Reynolds | 541 c307 (Link to this contribution) Not for a minute—I have taken a couple of interventions already. The Prime Minister walked out of t...
John Baron | 541 c307 (Link to this contribution) Will the shadow Minister give way?
Emma Reynolds | 541 c307 (Link to this contribution) Not for a minute. Will the Minister therefore state clearly, and once and for all, whether the Gove...
Peter Bone | 541 c326-7 (Link to this contribution) It is very appropriate that my hon. Friend in particular made that point. What we would see is extre...
Mark Reckless | 541 c327-8 (Link to this contribution) This debate is not just about legality; it is about how we best protect our interests, which are bes...
Robert Buckland | 541 c328-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to participate in this welcome debate, which, as my hon. Friend the Member for Ston...
Peter Bone | 541 c325 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is psychic, because that was the very point I wanted to come on to. It is ridicul...
Graham Stringer | 541 c325 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a point that has previously been made in this debate in slightly differ...
Lord Spellar | 541 c325 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman might just have answered my question. He was stridently asserting th...
Peter Bone | 541 c325 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way in a moment. As on any other occasion when the EU is defeated, the EU has ignored t...
James Clappison | 541 c324 (Link to this contribution) I have given way to the hon. Gentleman once and I am afraid I am not going to go back to all the tre...
James Clappison | 541 c323 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my hon. Friend at the end, if I may, because I need to make one or two other poin...
Peter Bone | 541 c324-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Mr Clappison) and I agree ...
James Clappison | 541 c321 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr Redwood), and I s...
James Clappison | 541 c322 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and the apposite point is that this treaty is a new form of miss...
Anne Main | 541 c321 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that mission creep over the years means that we are right to be sceptical ...
James Clappison | 541 c322-3 (Link to this contribution) With the Single European Act, we had a single market established before the Maastricht treaty. I do ...
Martin Horwood | 541 c322 (Link to this contribution) The moment had almost passed, but the question I was going to ask was: if he is questioning even bac...
Martin Horwood | 541 c317 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way again, because I will not get any more time and the Deputy Speaker has instructe...
Martin Horwood | 541 c319 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Chris Bryant | 541 c319 (Link to this contribution) I cannot; I have all of one second—I am finished.
Lord Redwood | 541 c319-21 (Link to this contribution) This debate is about the future of democracy itself. There can be no more important issue. We are co...
Speaker | 541 c321 (Link to this contribution) Order. Eight speakers wish to speak and the Minister would like 15 minutes in which to wind up, so i...
William Cash | 541 c305 (Link to this contribution) On what kind of Europe we want. It is increasingly obvious that the position has become unacceptable...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c305-6 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Stone (Mr Cash) on his innovative use of House procedures to secu...
Martin Horwood | 541 c306 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a robust call for clarity on policy. Can she confirm whether the Labour party is...
William Cash | 541 c303-4 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way again. I have listened to what Mr Speaker has said and I have no intention of gi...
William Cash | 541 c304-5 (Link to this contribution) I certainly would, as I said earlier. Angela Merkel is quoted in The Wall Street Journal a few days...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 541 c302 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Stone (Mr Cash) on securing the debate. I think that it is right ...
William Cash | 541 c302-3 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. I do not know whether the right hon. Gentleman was in the Chamber at the time, but I ref...
Martin Horwood | 541 c303 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Speaker | 541 c302 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before the hon. Member for Stone (Mr Cash) takes an intervention, may I say that it is always...
Neil Carmichael | 541 c302 (Link to this contribution) I am enjoying this interesting debate. It is an opportunity to air some key issues. Why does the Eur...
William Cash | 541 c302 (Link to this contribution) We have periodically sat in public, but then the position has been reversed. That depends on what is...
Lord Redwood | 541 c302 (Link to this contribution) It is quite right to have this debate as it is urgent and on a matter of great moment. Does my hon. ...
William Cash | 541 c302 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. Given that the Prime Minister is going to the Council tomorrow, where it is inconceivabl...
Robert Buckland | 541 c301 (Link to this contribution) May I reinforce my hon. Friend's point that it is important for the House as a whole, and indeed for...
William Cash | 541 c301 (Link to this contribution) There is also the important question of whether action might need to be taken on the advice of the A...
Michael Connarty | 541 c301 (Link to this contribution) I am about to leave the Chamber, because I believe that this is not the right time to debate somethi...
William Cash | 541 c301 (Link to this contribution) I will reply to that point simply by saying that it is important that we, as a House, consider matte...
Chris Bryant | 541 c300 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Of course, what you say is absolutely true, but you would not have ...
Chris Bryant | 541 c300 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said so last night to me in the gym. They are dying for anything other than the a...
Speaker | 541 c300 (Link to this contribution) That is an interesting point, like many of the hon. Gentleman's points, but it is not a point of ord...
William Cash | 541 c300-1 (Link to this contribution) That was not really a point worthy of comment, but I will certainly reply to the hon. Member for Lin...
William Cash | 541 c299-300 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is rather missing the point. The question before the House is that we should have...
Michael Connarty | 541 c300 (Link to this contribution) No one can beat the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee for diligence. However, I will not b...
Mark Francois | 541 c300 (Link to this contribution) Do you think we put him up to it?
Michael Connarty | 541 c300 (Link to this contribution) I am not immune to the value of the Whips, but I honestly believe that they have got themselves into...
Speaker | 541 c300 (Link to this contribution) Order. First, the hon. Gentleman's intervention is too long. It is very enjoyable, but too long. Sec...
David Lidington | 541 c345-6 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether we will have time to explore that this afternoon. I may write to my hon. Frien...
William Cash | 541 c347 (Link to this contribution) Undue delay in reserving our position on the necessity of getting concrete guarantees and an answer ...
David Lidington | 541 c346-7 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me, but I will not because I want to press on and try to answer more of the questions asked ...
Speaker | 541 c347 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Leader of the House for that clarification.
Lord Young of Cookham | 541 c347 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Owing to the debate under Standing Order 24 that has just en...
Robert Buckland | 541 c331 (Link to this contribution) As a lawyer, I love a legal debate, and bearing in mind what has been said and the aspirations signe...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c331 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. We may not have the ability to say no, because the i...
Robert Buckland | 541 c330-1 (Link to this contribution) I yield to no one in my respect for my hon. Friend, and he and I have had many conversations on thes...
William Cash | 541 c330 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend, and it has been, in a way, my political life's work to try to ...
Robert Buckland | 541 c331 (Link to this contribution) I shall take an intervention from my very good and honourable Friend.
Robert Buckland | 541 c330 (Link to this contribution) I shall take an intervention from my hon. Friend, as he was good enough to allow me to intervene on ...
Neil Carmichael | 541 c334 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to this important debate. I have listene...
Mark Reckless | 541 c334 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend suggests that there might be confusion and asserts clearly that the treaty is not an ...
Neil Carmichael | 541 c334-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. That does not alter the fact that it is not an EU treat...
Neil Carmichael | 541 c335-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I thank him for that intervention. It is crystal clear that ...
Robert Buckland | 541 c337 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for allowing me to correct a misapprehension. I apologise if I creat...
Anne Main | 541 c337 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and I end this part of the debate on that conciliatory...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c331 (Link to this contribution) May I join in the congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr Cash) on getting this c...
Robert Buckland | 541 c332 (Link to this contribution) As I said, as a lawyer I realise that although the law is not irrelevant—of course it is not—politic...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c332 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid to say that I disagree with my hon. and almost learned Friend. Law is the foundation of ...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c331 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is bursting to intervene, so I happily give way to him.
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c333 (Link to this contribution) It is a particular honour to give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham.
William Cash | 541 c332 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may be interested to know that yesterday in the European Parliament, which I attended...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c332-3 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, but one never knows what people might say in relation to the European Union. As I was sayin...
David Lidington | 541 c343 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr Cash) and all hon. Members who have taken part in th...
David Lidington | 541 c343-4 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way, but I take seriously the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingboroug...
John Baron | 541 c344 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is well respected in his post. Can he highlight the concrete and substantive gu...
Speaker | 541 c341 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have three speakers still to call, and we have 10 minutes before the wind-ups.
Christopher Chope | 541 c341-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to be able to participate briefly in this very important debate and to follow my ho...
Richard Drax | 541 c342 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Mr Cash) for securing the debate. He stands up...
Laura Sandys | 541 c342-3 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Richard Drax) is going to be crying over...
David Lidington | 541 c344 (Link to this contribution) There are two parts to my answer. First, the action that the Prime Minister took in December ensured...
David Lidington | 541 c344-5 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way again, because I have limited time and there are a lot of points to which I wish...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c345 (Link to this contribution) I want to clarify the point that I was trying to make. The treaty might possibly come in through enh...
Anne Main | 541 c338-9 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way to the hon. Gentleman. I have made my views clear about why I will not. He h...
Martin Horwood | 541 c338 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady give way, as she is attacking us directly?
Anne Main | 541 c338 (Link to this contribution) I am not attacking any Liberal Democrat; I am just saying that they are quite within their rights to...
Mark Reckless | 541 c337 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that the difference between our commitment to a referendum on the Lisbon ...
Anne Main | 541 c337 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. As we know, Liberal Democrats tend to change their min...
Anne Main | 541 c337 (Link to this contribution) No; the hon. Gentleman has made many speeches and many interventions, and I am sure that as the lone...
Stephen Phillips | 541 c340-1 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady had actually read the fiscal compact treaty, and if she had been here when my hon. ...
Stephen Phillips | 541 c339-40 (Link to this contribution) I rise not to detain the House, as I know that the Minister will shortly be on his feet, subject to ...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c340 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. and learned Gentleman explain to the House what in the fiscal compact treaty would have...
Chris Bryant | 541 c299 (Link to this contribution) How is the hon. Gentleman going to vote on this motion? As I understand it, his idea is that the tre...
William Cash | 541 c299 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. For those of us who have been critical of the European Union, but not of Europe, because...
Henry Smith | 541 c298-9 (Link to this contribution) Following yesterday's announcement of the Irish referendum, does my hon. Friend share my concern tha...
William Cash | 541 c298 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, who makes an important point. However, this is not merely...
John Baron | 541 c299 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this emergency debate. Does he share my concern that with ...
William Cash | 541 c299 (Link to this contribution) I do indeed. A new rule is being imposed through the arrangements under this treaty which involves a...
Denis MacShane | 541 c298 (Link to this contribution) This line about European technocrats imposing technocratic Governments all over the place is very fa...
William Cash | 541 c298 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House has considered the matter of the legal and other action now to be tak...
Emma Reynolds | 541 c308 (Link to this contribution) The shadow Chancellor has made it clear that we do not think we will join the euro in his political ...
John Baron | 541 c306 (Link to this contribution) The shadow Minister will accept that the fiscal compact is designed to save the euro. Could we there...
Bob Stewart | 541 c326 (Link to this contribution) It looks to me very much like we would have a centralised economy commanded by Germany. If there wer...
Peter Bone | 541 c325-6 (Link to this contribution) I do not honestly believe that the right hon. Gentleman, who has sat all through this debate, could ...
Chris Bryant | 541 c317-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a delight to follow the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood), even though we were in En...
Chris Kelly | 541 c304 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend encourage people who wish to find out more to visit the European Scrutiny Commit...
Anne Main | 541 c336-7 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to speak in the debate. I have to leave at 3.30 pm, as...
Martin Horwood | 541 c333 (Link to this contribution) It is an equal pleasure to intervene on my hon. Friend. I am grateful to him for allowing me to do s...
Mark Reckless | 541 c313-4 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is commenting about two banks, which he has given as an example, but as for...
Andrea Leadsom | 541 c311-2 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Lady made that intervention, because I can assure her that the all-party gro...
Robert Buckland | 541 c330 (Link to this contribution) I do not disagree. My hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) made a powe...
Richard Drax | 541 c330 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not accept that all of us in this country want to trade with Europe? There is no...
Jacob Rees-Mogg | 541 c333-4 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid I do not agree with my hon. Friend because a key part of the treaty may already be in br...
Robert Buckland | 541 c335 (Link to this contribution) On that point, should not priority be given to tackling the tariff barriers and, indeed, non-tariff ...
Subjects
Codes of practice Financial services Financial markets EU action Economic and monetary union EU economic policy Euro Stability and Growth Pact European Stability Mechanism
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