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Northern Rock plc Compensation Scheme Order 2008

My Lords, during the passage of the Bill, the Minister used the words ““as rapidly as possible”” in relation to the framework agreement. Indeed, he implied that it might even be available before the Bill completed its passage through the House and then retracted from that. I do not understand why he is now using the time-honoured formula ““as soon as possible””, which usually means some distance into the future. What is so difficult about publishing the framework agreement, which governs the relationships between government, shareholder, lender and Northern Rock? What is the problem with that? We will come back to the business plan as a separate matter but let us just deal with the framework agreement.