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Financial Services Bill

I apologise; there is so much to do here! My noble friend Lord Sawyer made some powerful points about consumers. I am absolutely sympathetic to what he said but I do not think that the Bill is the appropriate vehicle for carrying that in Parliament. However, I understand that Mr Gary Hoffman of Northern Rock has not replied to him, so I shall be ringing Newcastle tomorrow morning to ensure that a reply wings its way. My noble friend Lord Desai asked whether I would hazard a guess as to how much the support that the Government have provided for the banking system will cost the taxpayer. I am very confident that it will cost the taxpayer nothing. I am very confident that the support that we have provided through shares, the credit guarantee scheme, the special liquidity scheme and the asset protection scheme will produce a net surplus for the taxpayer in due course. Of course, as my noble friend will understand, the real cost is the economic consequence of the fact that the economy has been performing well below capacity; that cost will be with us for ever. Where we talk about billions of pounds, that is the price that we have had to pay for the greed and the mismanagement perpetrated by some people in the banking industry, most of whom are no longer involved in that industry. I am conscious that I have been speaking for 22 minutes and I think that I have probably exhausted the patience of the House. I am aware that there are other points that I have not addressed and on those, as I said, I shall write to noble Lords. Bill read a second time and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.