Drivel from HMG

I presume Lord Howell must be rather embarrassed by having his name under this piece of unadulterated drivel. On November 25 he gave a written reply to the following question put by Lord Stoddart of Swindon:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the speech by European Union Council President, Mr Van Rompuy, on 9 November concerning euro-scepticism and member states' ability to survive as independent entities.

Since Van Rompuy had been talking the most appalling rubbish, suggesting that euroscepticism was responsible for all the world's evils since that unfortunate encounter between Eve, the serpent and whatever fruit there was on the tree (Adam came into the story later, mostly in order to blame Eve for all the problems, which just goes to show that he did not know what Van Rompuy knows) HMG might think of some response or reaction.

This is what those gifted officials who write Ministers' responses thought of:

In his Berlin speech, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, gave his view of the challenges facing the EU over the next decade.

My honourable friend, David Lidington, the Minister for Europe, expressed the Government's position in his speech on 12 July, stating that this Government believe that:

"Our common interests are served when the nations of the EU use their collective weight in the world to promote our shared interests and shared value. The Government have made clear in the coalition agreement that they will not consent to the transfer of further competences or powers from the United Kingdom to the EU".

The second sentence of David Lidington's comment is, as we all know, an outright lie. The first one is merely drivel.