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Equitable Life

That is a very fine offer and I shall certainly take it up. I am quite realistic about this. Such things test every Government. It is quite proper for a Government to say, "If we were to provide a remedy of the kind that the ombudsman suggests in this case, or indeed in any other case, there would be a cost." In this case, the cost is substantial—there can be no equivocation about that. The figures look slightly less daunting than they did a couple of years ago—we now know how to use these big numbers. It is in the public interest for the Government to point to the sizeable public expenditure implications of the recommendations, but there is a larger public interest in maintaining the integrity of the ombudsman system. If we start to chip away at that and say, "Oh well, we’ll accept some of her findings, but reject others," we chip away at the ombudsman system. This House decided to set up a system of independent investigation of the actions of public bodies, including Departments, and having adopted such a system we cannot—except in the most exceptional circumstances—say, "Well, actually, we do not like the findings, leaving aside the question of any remedy."