European Union (Approvals) Bill [Lords]

Conor Burns Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Jacob Rees-Mogg]

They are four British institutions that have had to take the European shilling and sign up to promoting closer European integration to get access to money—institutions that are meant to be under British charity law and politically independent, except when it comes to Europe, when they get handouts to be biased in what they say.

[Conor Burns (Bournemouth West) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that, although the Minister is right that the sums are modest and the grants may well go to organisations of merit that the UK would fund anyway without the need to be given our own money back, the programme will undermine us powerfully as we go to our constituencies to try to persuade our electorate that we are sincere about getting powers back to Britain and putting them to the public in a referendum?

[Jacob Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Bill is cretaceous—