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Northern Rock

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman asked that question; I was about to come to that. He is right to say that all those important things alone would not justify it, but they are part and parcel of what will not be there if we do not carry on trying to find a resolution. This is not just a parochial matter. The hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) said that what happened was unprecedented and unexpected. It hit Northern Rock in a way that it should not have, and it hit other banks, but we did not intervene as a Government solely to protect Northern Rock but to protect the whole banking system. As the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) pointed out, it was about not only what was happening in the north but in this part of the world. The whole system was at risk, and we stopped that. It is clear that the Liberal Democrats are starting to bottle out. As usual, they have taken an opportunistic chance to make some hay while the sun shines—that is the way they work, and that is up to them. They talk about nationalisation. I spent my life working in nationalised industries—20 years in coal mines and 16 years in local government. I have a very different ideological view from that of my party's Front Benchers: their view is that public ownership is a good thing and we should have more of it. However, we should not have it only when things are on their knees. That is what happened in the past. In the post-war years, we nationalised the pits, the railways and the steel industry because we had to, because they had been run down and not looked after properly by the Government or the businesses that were supposed to be protecting them. Northern Rock may not be nationalised, but we should give a chance to the people who have stepped in and fulfilled some of the criteria put forward by people who work for the Rock and by the Governor. Virgin and Olivant have said in their bids—they must be tested; I do not have a problem with checking carefully what companies say before we sign up to it—that they will make up-front payments back to the Treasury on day one, give guarantees that the rest of the taxpayers' money will be paid back over two or three years, support the work force with guarantees of no compulsory redundancies, support the foundation, and protect mortgage-holders and savers. They will also do what they can for the shareholders who, as Members on both sides of the House have said, need to understand the situation and bear the risk. Surely we should give the people who have come forward with a bid the opportunity to work with the bank and with the trade union, on behalf of the work force, to try to make this work. The Liberal Democrats have come forward with proposals that they think will grab a headline. We are used to that. The people of the north-east will see through what they are doing and will not forgive them for it.