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Equitable Life

Hon. Members on the Conservative Front Bench are clearly not listening. I have just explained the Chancellor's location. The hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) referred to what happened with the Icelandic banks and asked whether the approach to compensation has changed. That issue was different because it involved systemic risk. It arose at a time when there was considerable movement of money from one account to another, and significant anxiety about confidence in the banking system as a whole and in retail deposits and savings. In that climate, we believed that it was right, for reasons of financial stability, to put in place additional support for the existing financial services compensation scheme. He will be aware that that scheme is funded by the industry. We recognised that additional Government support was needed, just as additional Government guarantees were needed for Northern Rock because of the wider risk to financial stability. I do not think that that sets a precedent for other individual cases and institutions. The hon. Gentleman asked for an early debate, and I will pass his request to business managers.