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Banking Bill

We move around in this debate from issues of extraordinary technical complexity to lighter moments. I also asked my officials why this word had been chosen. They also referred to the dictionary. They found two known uses in quotations, one being from Winston Churchill. I suggest to the noble Baroness and her colleagues on the other side of the Committee that the fact that the other place had difficulty with this word should not mean that we should indicate that we are in any way uneasy—or lacking in familiarity—with it. I believe the dictionary definition is very clear. It is clear that it is almost identical to ““subordinate””. I say to the noble Baroness that, as noble Lords know, I am new to this process. I understand that, at some stage, we begin to focus on narrowing down the areas where there are differences on the Bill between the parties in the House. It is probable, given my poor handling of the Bill to date, that I am likely to have to make concessions. If the noble Baroness indicated to me now that this was one of the more important concessions that she would expect me to make, rest assured that I would respond positively to that. I look forward to an indication in due course. If this really is the most important clause in the Bill, I will look kindly on responding in a helpful way on Report. Pro tem it would be appreciated if the noble Baroness withdrew the amendment.