It was interesting to note in the political theatre of Wednesday night's vote over the Treaty, and the inconsequential ditherings of joint Lib Dem-Labour rebellions, that something serious happened in Conservative ranks on Cash's supremacy of Parliament amendment, taking 40 MPs with it.
It has been briefly recorded by The Guardian, BBC News 24, The Times, Benedict Brogan’s Daily Mail blog, and Professor Cowley’s analysis at the University of Nottingham that beyond the usual observations on splits in the Lib Dem or Labour Party over the Treaty of Lisbon, the Commons divided on New Clause 9 put down in the name of Conservative MP, William Cash.
The Lisbon Treaty is clearly a massive threat to the supremacy of the UK Parliament and its foremost duty to legislate on behalf of the British people – that is why the amendment was supported by 47 MPs from across Parties.
The New Clause states: ‘Notwithstanding any provision of the European Communities Act 1972, nothing in this Act shall affect or be construed by any court in the United Kingdom as affecting the supremacy of the United Kingdom Parliament.’ The line of the Conservative frontbench was to abstain; yet 40 Conservative MPs voted for William Cash’s New Clause 9.
As Professor Cowley has now written, “This was the largest Conservative rebellion since David Cameron came to power, involving a quarter of his MPs. It was also the largest rebellion by MPs of any party during the passage of the Bill to date. Since no-one else seems to be reporting this, we thought we'd better let you know...”
The 40 Conservative MPs included: Michael Ancram, Richard Bacon, Brian Binley, Peter Bone, John Butterfill, Douglas Carswell, William Cash, Christopher Chope, David Davies, Philip Davies, Iain Duncan Smith, Philip Dunne, Nigel Evans, Christopher Fraser, Roger Gale, James Gray, David Heathcoat-Amory, Douglas Hogg, Philip Hollobone, Adam Holloway, Bernard Jenkin, Greg Knight, Edward Leigh, Peter Lilley, Anne Main, Humfrey Malins, Mark Pritchard, John Redwood, Lee Scott, Richard Shepherd, Bob Spink, Graham Stuart, Sir Peter Tapsell, Andrew Turner, Charles Walker, John Whittingdale, Ann Widdecombe, David Wilshire, Ann Winterton and Nicholas Winterton.
The amendment was also supported by: Gregory Campbell (DUP), Nigel Dodds (DUP), William McCrea (DUP), Peter Robinson (DUP), David Simpson (DUP), Sammy Wilson (DUP), Derek Conway (Ind), Dai Davies (Ind), Richard Taylor (Ind).
