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Pre-Budget Report

My Lords, I note that the right honourable Member for Rushcliffe amended his views on VAT. I am sure that there are people on the Tory Front Bench who hope that he will also amend his views on a number of other things where he is currently out of line with the thinking of Mr Cameron and Mr George Osborne. With regard to auditors, I remind my noble friend of last night’s debate. The primary responsibility for accounts lies with the banks’ directors. I am going through a programme of meeting the chairs of banks’ audit committees to inform myself of the processes that they are taking in completing their year-end accounts. It is absolutely critical that we restore trust in the accounts published by our banks, and indeed by banks elsewhere in the world. We can do little about other world bank accounts, except through agencies such as the Financial Stability Forum. However, it is clearly important that our own banks produce accounts that inspire trust.