§ 2. Mr. Andrew WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the last three meetings he attended of the Council of Ministers; what subjects were discussed; and which Ministers were in attendance.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Peter Lloyd)My right hon. and learned Friend has not attended any meetings of the Council of Ministers.
§ Mr. WelshDoes the Minister accept that my concern about the Scottish Office not being represented at European Council of Ministers meetings extends to the Home Department and its failure to attend? Is the Minister really saying that there are no important issues that should have been discussed with European colleagues during the past months and years? Does that confirm Britain's role as a part-time, semi-detached member of the European Community and extend to the Home Department the isolationist and anti-European ideas of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry?
§ Mr. LloydThe simple reason is that Council of Ministers meetings are attended by Ministers who have responsibility for the issues to be discussed there. Home affairs do not come under the treaty of Rome. Therefore, my right hon. and learned Friend attends the Trevi meetings, in which Ministers with responsibility for home affairs and immigration discuss the issues that are important to them. My right hon. and learned Friend attends all those meetings, as did his predecessor.