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Northern Rock

After all the headlines and hype of the last few days, I had expected the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable), to come to the House with a clear, well thought-through plan demonstrating what the purpose of nationalisation was, what would happen when the bank was in state control and what his exit strategy would be. However, we heard little to demonstrate that the nationalisation idea was anything more than a gimmicky headline—but we should, of course, have expected that from the Liberal Democrats. The hon. Gentleman is known to be nimble on his feet, but given today's performance, if he ever achieves his ambition of appearing on ““Strictly Come Dancing”” he would be all sequins and no steps. I also expected more of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. Unless the Chancellor makes a statement before Christmas, this debate is all that we shall hear about the Government's position on Northern Rock, which is why we welcome the fact that the Liberal Democrats have secured an Opposition day debate on this issue. We had expected to be given a more substantive statement from the Chancellor before Christmas. My speech will make it clear that a number of unanswered questions remain. We know that taxpayers, Northern Rock's employees, the creditors, the bidders and the shareholders face uncertainty. The Economic Secretary's brief speech did little to clear up that uncertainty. She said little about how the sale was progressing. Equally worryingly, she said little about the Government's plans in the event that the sale falls through. Let me be clear that Conservatives want a rapid private sale of Northern Rock. We want a sale that safeguards the interests of taxpayers, maintains financial stability, protects consumers and, we hope, results in a bank with a viable future preserving valuable jobs in the north-east. Although we all share those aims, we cannot forget that we are in this crisis because of the Government's incompetence and mismanagement. Every problem in this crisis has been compounded by their dither and delay, and by confusion and chaos. Everyone accepts that the problems in the credit market are a global phenomenon, yet only this Government appear to be mired in a crisis of the magnitude of Northern Rock.