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Banking Bill

My Lords, I thank the Minister for setting out the Government’s position, although I am disappointed with his response. He tries to make the case that the Clause 9 test is automatically a test of last resort, but it is not; it is just a stabilisation option, no matter how it is dressed up. The Minister referred to the test of necessity in Clause 9 as though it were peculiar to that clause. However, there is a test of necessity in Clause 8 as well, so there is no difference between Clause 9 and Clause 8; it is simply the way in which draftsmen have expressed the hurdle in either case. The position is still that the Bank might say that it could make a go of it by using the bridge bank provisions but the Treasury says that it wants temporary public ownership. I am not sure how that is resolved, especially as the Minister did not accept my amendment earlier, which said that the Treasury could make the call. If he had accepted it, he would have a clear answer to both the Bank and the Treasury wanting to take over a failing bank; the Treasury would win every time. However, he did not accept my amendment. I fail to be convinced. The Minister referred to the possibility of further material going into the code of practice. I suppose that we have to hope that the code will reflect more of what has been said both in Committee and here than it currently reflects. My only concern is that the Treasury has a taste for bank nationalisation and, having got the taste, it might carry on doing it. We shall see what happens. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 14 withdrawn.