Mr. David Lidington:

Certainly. I thank Senator Leyden for his kind remarks, particularly on the bilateral loan which the United Kingdom extended to Ireland.

On the issue of referenda, it is important to note the evolving British political context. We have not had many referenda, but in the past 15 years the tradition under the Blair and Brown Governments has been that major and even quite minor constitutional changes should be put to the people in a referendum. We had, for example, referenda on the issues of Scottish and Welsh devolution, two referenda on the Northern Ireland peace settlement, a referendum on whether there should be a directly elected mayor for the greater London area and another on the establishment of an elected regional assembly for north-east England. Last year we had a referendum on whether we should change the voting system in the House of Commons to the alternative vote.

The establishment in recent years of that referendum habit strengthens the genuine public concern that we have not been allowed to make a decision about the European Union in the same way, despite the fact that in the past 20 years we have had a succession of treaties - the treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon - which have effectively altered our constitutional arrangements. We could argue about the pros and cons of their provisions, but we, the people, have never had our say. That is why a referendum is needed to settle this issue for a generation in British politics. The question mark to which Deputy Durkan referred, namely, the uncertainty as to whether the United Kingdom might actually leave the European Union, is undoubtedly there. The Prime Minister's view is that one does not simply ignore that reality and hope it will go away. Rather, one should seek to shape the debate, aim for a point of decision and then argue one's case to the people.

Members have asked why British people are upset with the European Union. First, I agree that there are huge benefits to the United Kingdom from EU membership. Access to the Single Market of 500 million people is certainly one such benefit.