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Equitable Life

The right hon. Gentleman is perfectly correct. It is important also to remember that the ombudsman is the parliamentary ombudsman, and not the Government ombudsman. Parliament, not the Government, should take the decisions. I hope that, through the deliberations of the Committee that we shall set up tomorrow, we may get to a situation in which individual hon. Members can initiate motions in the House—I believe that that used to be the situation, long before I entered the House—as early-day motion 1423 on Equitable Life, which many hon. Members have signed, could then be debated and voted on in the House. In May, the ombudsman used what has been described as the nuclear option. She used her ultimate sanction of laying before Parliament a short report expressing her gross dissatisfaction with the Government's inadequate response to her original report. Like that original report, her follow-up report is accurately titled: "Injustice unremedied". She used the phrase "deeply disappointed", which is strong language from an ombudsman. I hope that the Government will reflect on it and implement the recommendations. I also ask the Government to reflect on the signal that they are sending out. Unless compensation is paid, what is there to encourage people of working age to save for their retirement? The regulatory failure is the Government's responsibility, so natural justice demands that they implement the ombudsman's recommendations.