European Council

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 22nd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I know the Prime Minister will reply with very specific and focused reference to the deliberations of the European Council.

[The Prime Minister]

Those are all subjects that were not discussed in any great depth at the European Council.

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[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. Do we know where the leader of the Labour party stands on the EU fiscal treaty? We do not know. Do we know where he stands on the financial transactions tax? We have not got a clue. Do we know what he would do about the banking union? We have absolutely no idea. The Opposition have no positive message, but I know what they are up to in Europe. They are members of the European Socialists party, whose president is a Bulgarian who opposes gay pride marches. They have also signed up to scrapping the UK rebate—that is your official policy—and to increasing substantially the EU budget and introducing new EU taxes. They are your mates and that is your policy.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I remind the House and the Prime Minister that I do not have any policy on these matters, so I would be very grateful if he did not involve me in this exchange. Secondly, I gently and politely make the point that we are here to talk about the policies of the Government.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

Talking about mates, which parties from Latvia did the Prime Minister meet at the Council?

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[The Prime Minister]

I can certainly give my hon. Friend the assurance that we will stick to our position on that. I cannot tell him when a deal will be done—it does not have to be done this November. The important point is that the British position on not wanting real-terms increases will stay in place whether the deal is done in 2012, 2013, 2014 or at any point in future. That is the key thing that everyone needs to know.

[Mr Speaker]

The moment has arrived for the good doctor.

[Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the eurozone have a banking union that works without that leading to economic and political union too?

[The Prime Minister]

I think that the short answer to that question is no. Over time, the more there is a banking union and a fiscal union, the tighter the political union will be drawn, because—for instance—German voters having to stand behind Greek deposits, or French voters having to pay for the restructuring of a Spanish bank are deeply political questions. In my view, as the eurozone deepens its commitments, as is inevitable for a working single currency, there will be pressures for further political union, and for further treaties and treaty changes. That is why I believe it is possible for Britain to seek a new settlement and seek fresh consent on that settlement, but we have to show some patience, because right now the issue in Europe is how to firefight the problems of the eurozone—get down interest rates and get the eurozone economy moving—rather than thinking through all the consequences of banking union and fiscal union in the way that my hon. Friend suggests.

[Mr Speaker]

I thank the Prime Minister and all colleagues for their succinctness, which enabled all 49 Back Benchers to contribute in well under an hour.