Earlier in the House of Commons, Conservative MP John Redwood - who served alongside Mr Clarke in John Major's Cabinet - suggested that the UK had been reduced to an "e-mail democracy" by Brussels.
Cutting taxes was a good thing, said Oliver Letwin - and John Redwood couldn't agree more.
That's the thinking behind the work of John Redwood's Economic Competitiveness Policy Group.
Despite never having held one of the major offices of state, John Redwood is the intellectual face of Euroscepticism.
His rivals' scores ranged from 2% (Michael Howard) to minus 20% (John Redwood).
However, Tory Eurosceptics don't see it that way - see, for example, John Redwood or Douglas Carswell's blogs.
Veteran Conservative John Redwood praised the Chancellor' s decision to cut the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p.
But Conservative MP John Redwood, chairman of the party's policy review group on economic competitiveness, disputes that this was Thatcher's aim.
Intervening in his speech, John Redwood challenged him about other European states' use of existing EU institutions to enforce the new pact.
For boldness, the palm goes to John Redwood, a former cabinet minister.
Mr Cameron's efforts were applauded by a succession of Eurosceptic Conservative MPs, one - John Redwood - saying he had shown "excellent statesmanship".
But Conservative backbencher John Redwood urged the government to ensure that any new powers to investigate fraud did not encroach upon Britain's historic liberties.
Last week Bill Cash joined John Redwood and Bernard Jenkin to launch a paper arguing that the benefits of the single market are overstated.
John Redwood called her "a great lady, and a great stateswoman".
But former Conservative minister John Redwood said the proposals did not go far enough and changes were needed in fishing, agriculture and energy among other areas.
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Prominent Conservative backbencher John Redwood said there was no need for a three-line whip because Labour and Lib Dem MPs were going to vote against the motion.
So says John Redwood MP when discussing the capital gains tax rate in the UK. And it should be said that he does have a point.
But Tory former minister John Redwood, leader of his party's policy group on economic competitiveness, branded the bank levy a tax on lending money to businesses and individuals.
When John Major resigned the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995, inviting detractors to "put up or shut up", John Redwood challenged him, standing on a Eurosceptic platform.
The chances of John Redwood from the far right and Stephen Dorrell, who has wobbled all over the place but once was considered left-of-centre, are not rated highly at Westminster.
Only John Redwood, a former cabinet minister and a bit of a lone voice on the right, asked for a pledge that Britain would not make further loans to euro-zone members.
Conservative MP John Redwood, not usually known for being in alliance with environmental groups or backbench Labour politicians, is also against the "democracy deficit" he says is inherent in the new system.
Former Conservative cabinet member John Redwood agreed, saying that while there was certainly scope to "improve" the reforms, the bill has already passed the Commons, "signed personally" by both Clegg and Cameron.
Senior backbencher John Redwood claimed there was a "hard core of at least 45" rebel Tory MPs who would not back the coalition if asked to vote for "unsuitable EU measures" in the future.
The amendment calling for elections is signed by Tory awkward squaddies Christopher Chope, David Nuttall, Edward Leigh, Peter Bone and Jacob Rees-Mogg, plus heavyweight ex-ministers David Davis and John Redwood and 1922 Committee grandees Graham Brady and Charles Walker.
Between them the high ranking Tories Oliver Letwin , Dr Liam Fox , John Redwood , Archie Norman as well as Boris Johnson and the only none Tory - Northern Ireland's First Minister David Trimble agreed on everything, pretty much.
Pressed about his party's position by Conservative MP John Redwood, Mr Alexander said it was "not sensible" to make such a guarantee now as the Europe Union was changing fast and it was not yet clear what its impact on the UK would be.
BBC: William Hague defends Conservative EU referendum pledge
David Cameron, the Tory leader, has worked hard since coming to office to project a diffuse green warmth, but a recent report from John Redwood a former cabinet minister charged by Mr Cameron with thinking big thoughts about economic competitiveness prescribed a big expansion in road and air capacity.
Thus, John Redwood is one of those who argues that the IMF should not be prepared to bail out a eurozone country - part, perhaps, of a future United States of Europe - as it would not bail out California - part of the United States of America.
He and his team went all out to "chime with the time" says Daran Hill and that meant using the antipathy towards Mrs Thatcher and the most Thatcherite minister campaigners could (metaphorically) lay their hands on - John Redwood - for all it was worth to squeeze that narrowest of victories.
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