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Banking Bill

I support the amendment tabled by the noble Baroness. If the Bill as a whole is being done in a rush, these amendments have clearly been done, if not in panic—because the Government fear something terrible happening in the very near future that they cannot necessarily predict—then with us being asked to adopt measures that we would normally throw out. They do not come within a mile of what would normally be acceptable to the Committee or, indeed, to Parliament. It seems to me that the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee proposal makes the best of a bad job, and it is difficult to see why the Government should not accept that. Two years, whether the powers have been adopted or not, should be long enough for the Government to get their act in order, decide exactly what they want to do and bring forward substantive legislation. I strongly urge the Minister to take this amendment seriously and to accept it.