New Role in the House of Commons

In the Commons, my latest task for the Liberal Democrats is to shadow the Foreign Secretary. This year already I’ve been involved in debates over problems in Kenya, Pakistan and Russia.

For the next two months however, I’ll be debating whether Britain should back a new European Treaty – sometimes called the Lisbon Treaty, sometimes the Reform Treaty.

What does this do? Until 2004, the European Union was made up of 15 countries. Now it has 27 countries – with others like Croatia soon to join. Obviously, when any organisation grows so rapidly, it reviews how it operates, to make itself more efficient, and that’s what the Treaty does.

So the Lisbon Treaty cuts the number of EU Commissioners in Brussels by a third.

The Treaty proposes the Council of Ministers keeps its chairman for two and a half years, rather than rotating it every six months.

National Parliaments will now be able to work together to stop Brussels legislating in areas it shouldn’t.

The Treaty makes it an EU objective to tackle climate change. It makes it easier for EU countries to swap information about sex offenders and to send help more quickly to poor countries hit by natural catastrophes.

That’s why I’m in favour of the Treaty.

There is a debate over whether there should be a referendum on the Treaty – so in a future column, I’ll explain why I believe the referendum we should have is a not one on the Lisbon Treaty – but on whether Britain should be in or out of the EU.