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Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008

My Lords, I strongly and warmly welcome the action of Her Majesty’s Government in this event. If we were to re-run it slightly differently, and we were standing here and the Government had not used the legislative peg available to them, the accusations rightly levelled at them would quite rightly be bitter and intense. The Government found themselves in a difficult position and used the option available to them; that was correct. It may not have been the most elegant way of dealing with the situation, but it was a necessary and effective one in dealing with circumstances that had developed quickly. In passing, I refer to the somewhat idiosyncratic contribution of the noble Earl, Lord Mar and Kellie. Let us make it absolutely clear that nobody is using what has happened in Iceland to attack the interests of the people of Scotland. It is also worth observing that the First Minister of Scotland, in pursuit of a narrow, nationalist agenda, has repeatedly used Iceland as a model that Scotland should follow. We ought to think and reflect upon that.