UKIP: Lord Pearson's European Union Membership (Economic Implications) Bill passes 2nd reading

Lord Pearson was dishonest, corrupt and incompetent as UKIP's political chief. To be fair, he eventually admitted that he was hopeless at party politics and quickly resigned as UKIP's leader. See: LINK. But Pearson is to be congratulated for his work on this Bill. We will watch it's progress with interest.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: My Lords, I am truly grateful to all noble Lords who are to speak today. This is not the first time that your Lordships have debated this or a similar Bill at Second Reading. We did so last some four and a half years ago, on 8 June 2007, and we had similar debates on 11 February 2004, 27 June 2003 and 17 March 2000. The series would not be complete without mentioning 31 January 1997, when your Lordships’ House voted at Second Reading for a Bill that would have taken us out of the European Union altogether.

For more than 30 years, our political class has done its best not to talk about our membership of the EU. But the wheel of history turns and the question as to whether we should leave the European Union is now firmly back on the national agenda. But this Bill does not deal with that question—it is an altogether milder and more innocent little creature. It merely requires the Chancellor of the Exchequer to set up an impartial inquiry into the economic costs and benefits arising from our membership of the EU.

To read the full text http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201011/ldhansrd/text/111125-0001.htm