---

Banking Bill

My Lords, as usual my noble friend makes a powerful case for something that would bring benefits to ordinary consumers and small businesses. It would further the purposes of government in producing new entities which would lend in situations where ordinary banks, if I may call them that, would have more difficulty in doing so. In a debate on a recent amendment, the noble Lord, Lord Newby, asked whether we would have a banking system fit for purpose in the future. I can think of nothing more fit for purpose than setting up a national bank to operate through post offices in towns and in the countryside, as my noble friend proposes. I hope that the Government will give that proposal a favourable response, even at this late stage of the Bill.