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Banking Bill

The noble Lord did not introduce that comparison, but of course I accept it. In any circumstances where one compares the support of the Government of one of the greatest economies in the world with that of a Government that represents one of the smaller economies of Europe, there is no comparison in terms of the resources that can be made available. The issue is the guarantee, and the British Government do not share the view of the noble Lord that there is an inherent insecurity because the Bank of Ireland’s work for the Post Office is backed by the Irish Government. I do not accept that. I will now be more constructive and move on from this arid debate with the noble Lord about the value of the guarantee. It was recently announced by a British Minister, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right honourable friend James Purnell, that the Post Office will retain the contract to deliver the Post Office card account, a simple and effective facility for people to receive benefit payments. There is no evidence to suggest that present commercial arrangements for access to banking facilities through Post Office branches is inadequate. There appears to be no need for a statutory requirement to provide a service that is already available. My noble friends talk about the potential of the Post Office. I agree that there is potential. However, more importantly, I want to quote a reference. The Government have asked the Select Committee on Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to investigate what scope there may be for the Post Office to expand the services that it offers. As part of its investigation, the Select Committee will look at how the Post Office can expand its financial services. Constructive work is being done, and I appreciate the contributions of both my noble friends in seeking to emphasise that the Post Office may have greater potential than is being exploited at present. My noble friend Lord Hoyle said that he will almost certainly raise the issue on Report if he does not get a satisfactory reply now. I imagine that a satisfactory reply would be to endorse every conceivable constructive suggestion that he has put forward, together with those that my noble friend Lord Clarke added to the list. I cannot quite do that, but I hope that my noble friends will recognise that the Government are already constructively engaged in extending the financial services of the Post Office to a much greater extent than many recognise. On that basis, I hope that my noble friend will withdraw the amendment this evening—if it is still this evening.