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Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham): I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman.
Mr. Cook: I appreciate that. I give the hon. Gentleman 10 out of 10 for attendance.
Mr. Cook: I knew that the hon. Gentleman, with his recent stress on sound education principles, would welcome that. I was struck by his confession during the summer, when he said:
- The one thing I have learned since the election is that we must not appear as if we are foaming at the mouth.
- the eventual framing of a common defence policy, which might in time lead to a common defence.
Mr. Cook: I am glad that I have the right hon. Gentleman with me.
The right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) knows about that commitment because he was the Conservative Minister who flew over to sign the Maastricht treaty. Yet on Tuesday, he was unable to dissuade the current Leader of the Opposition from telling the nation that the Conservative party would
- insist that these arrangements are brought back within NATO.
Conservative Members are within their rights to say that they disagree with the Government's interpretation of the national interest. The purpose of the Chamber is to enable us all to advance our own view of the national interest--that is, the British national interest. I find it strange that so many Conservatives have surfaced during the week to speak for the American national interest. The American President, the American Defence Secretary and the American Secretary of State have all warmly endorsed the European security initiative. How can the representatives of Horsham, West Suffolk and Chesham and Amersham claim to know the American national interest better than the President of America?
The only thing that would put the alliance at risk is the Leader of the Opposition's pledge that the Conservative manifesto will commit Conservatives to break the commitments that Britain made this week. Sixteen of our allies in NATO took part in this week's capabilities conference. How does the Conservative party expect to persuade them that we are breaking the commitments that we gave to them to strengthen our alliance with them?
Mr. Cook: I shall give priority to the hon. Member for Buckingham.
Mr. Bercow: As the right hon. Gentleman is giving us a lecture about the importance of defence preparations and military co-operation, will he tell us precisely when he abandoned the position that he took at the 1982 Labour party conference, when he said:
- I come to this rostrum to beg conference, to ask conference, to plead with conference to vote for unilateral nuclear disarmament?
Mr. Cook: I am happy to assure the hon. Gentleman and the House that I remain committed to the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. We now have the opportunity to aim for that goal by pursuing a multilateral negotiation. I am much prouder of the views that I held in 1982 than the hon. Gentleman should be about his presence in the Monday Club during the same period.
Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby) rose--
Mr. Cook: If I may, I will press ahead.
If the Conservative party reneges on the commitments that we have made, that would not just be a betrayal of our allies.
Mr. Gerald Howarth (Aldershot) rose--
Mr. Cook: No, I shall make progress.
It would be a betrayal also of Britain's interests.
Mr. Cook: Indeed it would. For two centuries, even the Conservative party has understood that Britain's security is best preserved by maintaining stability on the continent. If the Conservative party abandons that, it is abandoning its own traditions. Nor do we find the Conservative party supporting the British--
Mr. Howarth: Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Cook: No. I anticipate that Conservative Back Benchers wish me to talk about the treaty of Nice, and I intend to do so. I shall do so because we find that the Conservative party is failing again to support the British national interest on that other big issue before the Nice summit.
This European Council will mark a milestone towards the biggest enlargement in the history of the European Union. It is a historic step. It marks the completion of the reunion of Europe. If the fall of the Berlin wall marked the end of the division of Europe between the two political systems--
Mr. Howarth: On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Foreign Secretary is clearly leaving the question of the Euro army. He has told the House that the Government intend to enter into commitments for the creation of a Euro army to which this country will be bound. Is it in order for him to do that without the authority of Parliament?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Sylvia Heal): I am sure that the hon. Gentleman appreciates that that is not a point of order but, rather, a point of information.
Mr. Cook: While awaiting my opportunity to open the debate, I sat through 20 minutes of Conservative Members complaining about the abuse of Parliament. Nothing better represents the abuse of Parliament than that totally bogus point of order. However, for the edification of the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth), there will be no question of the Government committing troops to any specific operation without specific debate in the Chamber.
I turn to the treaty of Nice, which we shall negotiate in a weeks' time.
Mr. William Cash (Stone) rose--
Mr. Cook: I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will want to intervene on that matter, and I shall give him time when the opportunity arises.
I stress that the treaty of Nice is about the reunification of Europe and preparing for enlargement of the European Union. Every single Government in the new democracies of central and eastern Europe wants to join the European Union. They see it as the best way to underpin their freedom and stability and the only way to boost inward investment and outward trade, but enlargement will also bring real benefits for existing members. It will make our single market even larger, and give us even greater
strength in international trade negotiations and a better capacity to co-operate on tackling common problems such as cross-border crime.The report on enlargement that will be before the summit gives a positive verdict on the immense effort being made by most candidate countries to get themselves ready for membership. They have met the political criteria, including, in some cases, taking difficult and unpopular steps to protect the rights of minorities. They have faced up to painful and challenging reforms on state ownership and open competition, and are making good progress in transposing European law into their domestic law.
After making all those efforts, the candidate countries will not understand if the European Union itself fails to face up to the reforms that it needs to make so that our decision making will be effective in a Europe of 25 or more member states, rather than only 15. Yet the Conservative party, even before the Nice summit--indeed, even before I reached this passage in my speech--has confirmed that it will oppose those reforms that are necessary for enlargement. [Interruption.] I hear Conservative Members objecting that the treaty of Nice is not about enlargement. What will be under negotiation at Nice is essential to enlargement. It is essential that we agree on means of limiting the growth of the Commission as a result of enlargement. [Interruption.]
The right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst appears to be prepared to contemplate a Commission of more than 30, which is where we would end up under the present rules. It would be more a public meeting than a body capable of taking collective, coherent decisions. It is essential that we redistribute the voting weight in the Council of Ministers.
Mr. Cook: The right hon. Gentleman says no. Well, let me explain. Under the present rules, Britain, France and Germany, after enlargement, would not hold between them even a blocking minority, although they would represent almost half the population of the European Union. [Interruption.] Conservative Members may be prepared to accept that, but it would be an intolerable outcome. [Interruption.] It would be an affront to the democratic values on which the European Union is based. We shall therefore press at Nice for a real increase in the relative vote of Britain. If we succeed, the treaty of Nice will provide for the first ever increase in Britain's vote in the Council.
The treaty of Nice, therefore, is about providing for a stronger Britain in a wider Europe. That is what the Conservative party will oppose.
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