Europe

Debate between Baroness Hoey and Lord Hague of Richmond

Wednesday 30th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I will give way in a moment to the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey).

Ratifying Lisbon without consulting the people did real damage to the EU’s democratic legitimacy in this country. I remember one Labour Member agreeing with that point in the debates on the Lisbon treaty—the hon. Member for Vauxhall.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

The Foreign Secretary should know that a majority of Labour voters support bringing back powers from Europe. Although, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Neath (Mr Hain) said, we want to be friends with our European allies, talk to them and work with them, does the Foreign Secretary agree that the threat of a referendum makes it much more likely that we will get the real engagement that will satisfy the British public?

[Mr Hague]

Although, as Foreign Secretary, I might not describe it as a threat on a daily basis, I agree with the thrust of the hon. Lady’s argument.

National Referendum on the European Union

Debate between Baroness Hoey and Lord Hague of Richmond

Monday 24th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

The remedy is to restore the health of the British economy, to have a tax system, such as the Chancellor is creating, that attracts businesses to this country, and to create export growth from this country to the whole world, not just to the European Union. We cannot do that if we are not taking part in the free trade agreements that Europe is making with the rest of the world.

The second and third reasons—

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

rose—

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hague]

My hon. Friend’s argument is that he would have a preferential voting system, but not everybody would, and I am pointing out the difficulties with that.

[Kate Hoey]

rose—

European Union Bill

Debate between Baroness Hoey and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 7th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

I will give way two more times and then make some progress, to be fair to the House

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has mentioned the Lisbon treaty a number of times, saying that because of it we cannot do certain things. Surely the public will think that no Government should be committed to previous Governments’ decisions, and that it would be perfectly possible—there would be huge support for it—for the coalition Government to say, “Now we are in government, we want a referendum on the Lisbon treaty.” That would sort out the whole situation, because clearly the public would vote against it.

[Mr Hague]

As the hon. Lady knows, since the Lisbon treaty was ratified it has been built into the treaties of the EU. It does not have a separate existence once it is ratified. A referendum on that would be the same as a referendum on taking part in all the EU’s institutions—in other words, being in the EU at all.

[Kate Hoey]

Yes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness Hoey and Lord Hague of Richmond

Tuesday 6th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

We work closely with our partners around Africa, foremost among which, of course, is South Africa. We support its efforts and those of President Zuma to engage closely with Zimbabwe and to push it towards reform. We—the UK and other donors—also support, through the UN development programme, the implementation of the Zimbabwean constitution. Given the concerns that my hon. Friend and others have raised, I should say that that happens not through direct funding of the Zimbabwean Government, but through that UN programme.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

The Prime Minister will know that Morgan Tsvangirai was promised by the African Union and SADC that they would honour the global political agreement and ensure that it worked, but clearly they have not done so. Can we do anything more to put pressure on the AU and SADC, without which we will never get the free and fair elections that will make Zimbabwe once again a flourishing nation?

[Mr Hague]

We can put diplomatic pressure on those organisations—that is the leverage we have. The hon. Lady may think that that is not substantial enough, but that is what such pressure amounts to—working with those countries, particularly South Africa, and of course with reformers in Zimbabwe, to try to ensure that the global political agreement is properly respected. The UK will remain a strong voice for that, but we cannot guarantee it on our own.