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Banking Bill

The Minister was kind enough to refer to what I said, but he said that I was talking in great generalities. We are talking about the banking and financial systems of the United Kingdom, their stability, public confidence in their stability, the protection of depositors and the protection of public funds. I cannot think of anything in relation to the financial system in all its huge and broad effect that is not covered by those phrases. It is not as though we are talking about a narrowly defined structure within which this remarkable power is right. We are talking about the Government’s powers to do anything that they like in the entire world of public and private finance. I am told that that is just a generality, but the Minister’s argument turns on him.