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Northern Rock

My hon. Friend is right. Along with other hon. Members who represent north-eastern constituents, he rightly expresses concern about the bank and its employees. I very much hope that in the next few weeks, Ron Sandler and his team will continue to have the discussions that they started today with management and employees to see what can be done in restructuring the business to ensure that it has a future. It will be difficult because the market conditions are difficult, but what we have done gives the bank the opportunity to do that and at the same time ensures that we safeguard the interests of the taxpayer. To put it into administration—to run it down, which has appeared over the past half hour or so to be the developing policy among the Conservatives, would not be the right thing to do for anyone.