Why are the Government now refusing to uphold that promise in the event of Scotland voting to remain in the EU and the rest of the UK voting to leave?
Mr Lidington: Scotland indeed does have a much more powerful voice in the EU as part of the United Kingdom than she would on her own, as we can see, for example, from the priority that British Ministers have given to the Scotch whisky industry during the negotiation of EU free trade agreements with other countries around the world—something that has brought real benefits, in terms of jobs and growth, to the people of Scotland. The hon. Lady invited me in the latter part of her question to revisit territory that the House debated and voted on at the time of the referendum Bill. It is the United Kingdom that is the member state whose name is written in the treaties and therefore it is right that this is a decision for the United Kingdom as a whole.
Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con): I believe the Minister is a fair man and this should have been a fair campaign, but the spending of taxpayers’ money on this propaganda is clearly unfair. Does he not recognise the anger in my constituency, where there is pressure on public spending, at this level of taxpayers’ money being used on electioneering? Furthermore, I was fortunate enough to get my copy of the leaflet this morning. I was slightly disappointed that it was printed on shiny, glossy paper. Had it been printed on something a bit more absorbent, then at least my constituents would have been able to put it to good use.
Mr Lidington: The facts are that 85% of the public have been telling us that they want more information, in particular from the Government. The cost of the leaflet is roughly 34p per household. Given the gravity of the decision that people are being asked to take, I really do not think that that should be seen as in any way disproportionate.
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP): When the Scottish Government White Paper on independence was published, it had a catalytic effect on the independence referendum campaign. Although we did not win that campaign, it helped to double the level of support for independence from the standing start that we came from. It was downloaded or ordered in hard copy more than 100,000 times. People even proactively paid for a copy of it, irrespective of what side of the referendum campaign they were on. Do the Minister’s ambitions for the Government’s document go anywhere near approaching the success of the Scottish Government’s White Paper?
Mr Lidington: I am not expecting it to appear in the Amazon bestseller lists, but I hope that every household, when they receive it, will consider seriously the arguments the Government are making. If people wish to explore in greater detail any particular aspect of our European Union membership covered in the leaflet, they can follow up the source material from which the various statements are derived—those have all been published—or look at the lengthier Government publications that we have placed online, in response to our duty under the European Union Referendum Act 2015, and find that information there, too.
Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con): The hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan), who represents the SDLP, is not alone in taking a principled stand of being in favour of remain, but against the spending of public money on this leaflet. The leader of the Green party in England and Wales, Natalie Bennett, said on Radio 4 on Friday evening that
“it isn’t acceptable for the Government to be putting out propaganda in this way.”
Can the Minister tell us which of the two lines he has been putting forward today he really subscribes to? Does he really subscribe to the line that this is information that the public want, or does he commit himself to the line that this is actually the Government arguing for one side of the debate because that is what the Government’s position is? He cannot have it both ways. Either it is an impartial, factual document or it is a partisan argument for one side in the debate. Which is it?
Mr Lidington: It will be for the two designated campaign organisations to promote their own messages to the public as they choose, without the Government interfering. What the opinion research we commissioned told us was that people wanted more information, and that included a clearer explanation from the Government as to why we were arguing the case and making the recommendation that we were. What we are doing in this leaflet is providing that factual information in an accessible form, but also showing why the Government have made the recommendation they have.
Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire) (Con): It is the case that constituents have been asking for more information, but I wonder whether the Minister or anybody in No. 10 even has given a second’s consideration to how our constituents who have been impacted by austerity cuts would feel about £9 million being spent on a glossy leaflet that amounts to nothing more than a booklet of pictures. If people are asking for more information, they are obviously asking for information on both sides of the argument. They are not asking for propaganda, they are not asking for facts that are not facts and they are not asking for a glossy booklet. They want unbiased information on both sides of the argument, so will the Minister spend another £9 million putting over the other side of the argument?
Mr Lidington: The two campaign groups will have the publicly funded distribution of whatever leaflet they produce, which will be worth up to £15 million apiece to them. In addition to that benefit of free delivery, they will each have a £7 million spending limit—higher than any other permitted participant in the referendum campaign —and they will each be entitled to a television broadcast and to a Government grant, from taxpayers’ funds, of £600,000, which is something this House approved during our recent debates. I would say to my hon. Friend that her views on the subject of Europe are consistent and well known and are held perfectly honourably, but given the seriousness of what is at stake in this referendum vote, for the Government to be spending 34p per household on presenting their views in an accessible form seems to me to be utterly reasonable.
Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con): Perhaps we should be reasonably relaxed about this. Most of these leaflets will end up in the waste paper bin straight away,