European Union Bill

Baroness Anelay of St Johns Excerpts

Tuesday 26th April 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

I did not stand up because I was waiting for my turn. I moved to speak on several occasions. Obviously I am in the hands of your Lordships, but I understand that we are entitled to speak to these amendments in their order on the Marshalled List, and I have rather different points from those of the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, as I regard the single market’s disadvantages as rather different.

[Baroness Anelay of St Johns]

My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Lord will take his seat. We are not on a deadline tonight but are seeking to carry out the proper debating role of this House. As the noble Lord will know more than most, in Committee he may speak after the Minister, unlike on Report. Therefore, it might be courteous, since the Minister had started to speak, to allow him to continue to give his response. Of course, the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, may speak after that. My noble friend indicated that he did look around. Indeed, I was at the door of the Chamber at that point, so he was not intending any discourtesy. Perhaps the noble Lord might allow the Minister to complete his speech, because he gave way only on the basis that it was an intervention, and he had not finished speaking himself. Perhaps that is the way to proceed. The noble Lord, Lord Pearson, will have a full opportunity to speak, as he has on other occasions.

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

I merely wish to say that I wanted to speak to this amendment from the start. It is not my fault if the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, did not catch my eye before he stood up. I am always a very well behaved boy in your Lordships’ House, and with the extreme charm with which the Chief Whip has put her request, I shall not continue with my remarks now. But they are important because they prove that the single market has been a disaster for this country. I shall come back to that under Amendment 41, if I may. In the mean time, the Minister can feel free to carry on. I did not realise that we were on a close deadline.