---

Banking Bill

The Minister has, with the help of my noble friend Lord Higgins, clarified what we are talking about in terms of deposits in the NLF attracting a short-term rate or even an overnight rate. However, that is almost certainly the wrong rate. If you had £15 billion which needed to be realised quickly, you would not keep it in a place where it attracted an overnight deposit rate; if you had it in gilts, you could realise it very quickly. It seems that the Government are set on imposing an artificial rate on the FSCS, which in effect would then penalise the banks further for having put the money up-front into the FSCS by artificially reducing the rate. This may be very convenient as a means of funding this horrendous deficit that the Government are intent on inflicting on this country, but it is not the right approach to funding the FSCS, which has to be funded by the banks. I shall consider carefully what the Minister has said. I am grateful for his responses but I am less than clear that this is a satisfactory conclusion. However, for today, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 159A withdrawn. Amendment 159B not moved. Amendment 159C had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List. Amendment 159D not moved.