That EU vote

I have extracted from Hansard the list of those MPs who voted for Monday's motion calling for a referendum on the European Union and attached the party affiliations. Although most "ayes" are ultra-conservative - and in the Labour context, that would include Kate Hoey and Frank Field - there are one or two who voted "for" on grounds of pure democracy. Both Gisela Stuart and Adrian  Sanders can be counted as broadly supporting membership of the European Union (though Ms Stuart can be rated a critical friend). There are also some unreconstructed socialists - Dennis Skinner in the van - who have always been against both the EU and the EEC which preceded it on the grounds that they were rich men's clubs. Sadly, the latter have rather more grounds for complaint than the first.

In copying across the names, it was surprising how few I knew. It has been observed that many of them were not in the last Parliament. Most were not alive when we last had a referendum on the subject of European cooperation. It goes without saying that none had a memory of European conflict on a large scale. It was this memory that convinced Winston Churchill (though he didn't see the UK as forming part of it), Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath of the need for a European Community which was more than just a common market. It is incorrect to say that Heath concealed his political objectives. He may have emphasised the economic advantages of union, but he was open about his political vision.

It was Mrs Thatcher who promoted (and if anyone doubts that she once did, BBC-TV has the evidence to prove it) the EEC as just a trading bloc. Mind you, she was not above giving up UK powers in the cause of the City. I wonder how many of her young disciples realise that it was Mrs T who opened up our ports to Spanish and Portuguese fishermen as part of a deal which gave access to the Spanish insurance market to British companies. Which reminds me: one hopes that reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is still high on the agenda of our ministers in the Coalition, as it is for our MEPs. (I doubt that we will make any progress on the other reform we have had in our manifesto, because too many Conservatives benefit from the Common Agricultural Policy.)

What shocked me in what little of the debate I was able to watch on BBC-Parliament was not just that the motivation for so many of the supporters of David Nuttall's motion was to unwind most of the social protection legislation originating in Brussels - that was well-known before the debate - but also the desire on the part of one or two to abrogate the European Convention on Human Rights as well. These were people who knew full well the difference between the EU and EHCR.

Ayes:
Andrew, Stuart (Con, Pudsey)
Baker, Steve (Con, Wycombe)
Baron, Mr John (Con, Basildon & Billericay)
Bingham, Andrew (Con, High Peak)
Binley, Mr Brian (Con, Northampton South)
Blackman, Bob (Con, Harrow East)
Brady, Mr Graham (Con, Altrincham & Sale West)
Bridgen, Andrew (Con, North West Leicestershire)
Brine, Mr Steve (Con, Winchester)
Bruce, Fiona (Con, Congleton)
Byles, Dan (Con, North Warwickshire)
Campbell, Mr Gregory (DUP, East Londonderry)
Campbell, Mr Ronnie (Lab, Blyth Valley)
Carswell, Mr Douglas (Con, Clacton)
Cash, Mr William (Con, Stone)
Chope, Mr Christopher (Con, Christchurch)
Clappison, Mr James (Con, Hertsmere)
Cooper, Rosie (Lab, West Lancashire)
Corbyn, Jeremy (Lab, Islington North)
Crouch, Tracey (Con, Chatham & Aylesford)
Cruddas, Jon (Lab, Dagenham & Rainham)
Cryer, John (Lab, Leyton & Wanstead)
Davidson, Mr Ian (Lab, Glasgow South West)
Davies, David T. C. (Con, Monmouth)
Davies, Philip (Con, Shipley)
Davis, rh Mr David (Con, Haltemprice & Howden)
de Bois, Nick (Con, Enfield North)
Dinenage, Caroline (Con, Gosport)
Dodds, rh Mr Nigel (DUP, Belfast North )
Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M. (DUP, Lagan Valley)
Dorries, Nadine (Con, Mid Bedfordshire)
Drax, Richard (Con, South Dorset)
Engel, Natascha (Lab, North East Derbyshire)
Field, rh Mr Frank (Lab, Birkenhead)
Field, Mr Mark (Con, Cities of London & Westminster)
Fullbrook, Lorraine (Con, South Ribble)
Godsiff, Mr Roger (Lab, Birmingham Hall Green)
Goldsmith, Zac (Con, Richmond Park)
Gray, Mr James (Con, North Wiltshire)
Heaton-Harris, Chris (Con, Daventry)
Henderson, Gordon (Con, Sittingbourne & Sheppey)
Hermon, Lady (Ind, North Down)
Hoey, Kate (Lab, Vauxhall)
Hollingbery, George (Con, Meon Valley)
Holloway, Mr Adam (Con, Gravesham)
Hopkins, Kelvin (Lab, Luton North)
Jackson, Mr Stewart (Con, Peterborough)
Jenkin, Mr Bernard (Con, Harwich & North Essex)
Jones, Mr Marcus (Con, Nuneaton)
Kelly, Chris (Con, Dudley South)
Leadsom, Andrea (Con, South Northamptonshire)
Lefroy, Jeremy (Con, Stafford)
Leigh, Mr Edward (Con, Gainsborough)
Lewis, Dr Julian (Con, New Forest East)
Lucas, Caroline (Green, Brighton Pavilion)
Lumley, Karen (Con, Redditch)
Main, Mrs Anne (Con, St Albans)
McCabe, Steve (Lab, Birmingham Selly Oak)
McCartney, Jason (Con, Colne Valley)
McCartney, Karl (Con, Lincoln)
McCrea, Dr William (DUP, South Antrim)
McDonnell, John (Lab, Hayes & Harlington)
McPartland, Stephen (Con, Stevenage)
Mercer, Patrick (Con, Newark)
Mills, Nigel (Con, Amber Valley)
Mitchell, Austin (Lab, Great Grimsby)
Morris, Anne Marie (Con, Newton Abbot)
Morris, James (Con, Halesowen & Rowley Regis)
Mosley, Stephen (Con, City of Chester)
Murray, Sheryll (Con, South East Cornwall)
Nokes, Caroline (Con, Romsey & Southampton North)
Nuttall, Mr David (Con, Bury North)
Offord, Mr Matthew (Con, Hendon)
Paisley, Ian (DUP, North Antrim)
Parish, Neil (Con, Tiverton & Honiton)
Patel, Priti (Con, Witham)
Percy, Andrew (Con, Brigg & Goole)
Pritchard, Mark (Con, The Wrekin)
Reckless, Mark (Con, Rochester & Strood)
Redwood, rh Mr John (Con, Wokingham)
Rees-Mogg, Jacob (Con, North East Somerset)
Reevell, Simon (Con, Dewsbury)
Robertson, Mr Laurence (Con, Tewkesbury)
Rosindell, Andrew (Con, Romford)
Sanders, Mr Adrian  (LD, Torbay)
Shannon, Jim (DUP, Strangford)
Shepherd, Mr Richard (Con, Aldridge-Brownhills)
Simpson, David (DUP, Upper Bann)
Skinner, Mr Dennis (Lab, Bolsover)
Smith, rh Mr Andrew (Lab, Oxford East)
Smith, Henry (Con, Crawley)
Stevenson, John (Con, Carlisle)
Stewart, Bob (Con, Beckenham)
Stewart, Iain (Con, Milton Keynes South)
Streeter, Mr Gary (Con, South West Devon)
Stringer, Graham  (Lab, Blackley & Broughton)
Stuart, Ms Gisela  (Lab, Birmingham Edgbaston)
Sturdy, Julian (Con, York Outer)
Tapsell, rh Sir Peter (Con, Louth & Horncastle)
Tomlinson, Justin (Con, North Swindon)
Turner, Mr Andrew (Con, Isle of Wight)
Vickers, Martin (Con, Cleethorpes)
Walker, Mr Charles (Con, Broxbourne)
Walker, Mr Robin (Con, Worcester)
Weatherley, Mike (Con, Hove)
Wheeler, Heather (Con, South Derbyshire)
Whittaker, Craig (Con, Calder Valley)
Whittingdale, Mr John (Con, Maldon)
Wilson, Sammy (DUP, East Antrim)
Wollaston, Dr Sarah (Con, Totnes)
Wood, Mike (Con, Batley & Spen)

Tellers for the Ayes:
Mr Peter Bone (Con, Wellingborough) and
Mr Philip Hollobone (Con, Kettering)