PARLIAMENTARY REPORT


UNITED KINGDOM


DEBATING THE EUROPEAN UNION REFERENDUM BILL


The progress of Hon. James Wharton, MP, (Con) European Union Referendum Bill was one of the talking points of the parliamentary session. The Bill is a Private Member’s Bill, but the Conservative Party gave it its official backing and whipped its Members to support its passage through the House of Commons. The Bill began its progress


in the House of Lords with its Second Reading, on 10 January. To become law the Bill faced a tight timetable. The final day on which the Commons could consider any amendments that the Lords might make to the Bill was 28 February. If the Lords amended the Bill and did not pass it by then, then it would run out of parliamentary time. Even if the Lords did send the Bill back to the Commons before 28 February, the Commons would have to agree the Lords’ amendments to avoid it running out of time. Second Reading therefore


took place against an expectation that supporters of the Bill would try to hurry it along, whilst opponents would try to slow it down and amend it. The debate began with an exchange between the Government Chief Whip, Baroness Anelay of St Johns, and Labour peers about the time that the House would rise. The House of Lords does not have a fixed rising time, but there are conventions around the time that the Government Whip would normally end the sitting. Baroness Anelay noted that there were 92 speakers in the debate and


66 | The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue One Hon. James Wharton, MP


suggested that backbench peers should aim to speak for around four minutes. She estimated that the debate would be able to conclude on that basis at around the House’s normal rising time on a Friday of 3pm. Lord Richard (Labour) pressed her to ensure that the House would rise at 3pm. He argued that to do otherwise would be unfairly to favour the Bill over others. Baroness Anelay replied that ending at 3 pm was the intention, but there was no time limit and if Peers spoke for longer than four minutes the House would rise later. The question of rising times was to recur throughout the Bill’s progress in the Lords. Opening the debate, the


Bill’s promoter in the Lords, Lord Dobbs (Con), set out his case for the Bill. He argued: “The principle behind this Bill


is that the people have a right to decide their own future. We had a vote of course in 1975, in which we embraced the Common Market by a huge majority. I was one of those voters. However,


that vote needs reinforcing. The institutions of Europe have changed beyond imagination since then and no one in this country below the age of 60 has had any say.” He briefly addressed issues


that had been the subject of amendments in the Commons – for example, the nature of the franchise and the terms of the question. Noting the tight timetable, he argued that these were important issues, but that none of them important enough to risk the Bill itself. Opposing the Bill on behalf


of the Labour Party, Lord Liddle, denied that the Opposition was against referendums in general. He noted that the Labour Party had held the first referendum on EU membership in 1975. However, he argued that the Bill “is playing Russian roulette with the British economic recovery. If the business world was to think seriously that this Bill had the slightest chance of passage and that the Conservatives were likely winners of the next general election, the uncertainty generated over our continuing membership of the EU for the next four years could have a devastating economic effect”. It is rare for peers to vote


against the second reading of a Bill. So, despite a number of primarily Labour, Liberal Democrat and Cross-bench (CB) peers expressing their dissatisfaction or opposition to the Bill, after six and a half hours of debate the House gave it a


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