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Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill

I am not aware that there is. I stress that that argument was not mine, but that of a number of respondents to the consultation. It is not for me to speak for them, but I suspect they would say that there is a difference between a voluntary waiving of rights, and a compulsory waiving of rights brought about by legislation that means essentially that certain debts are unenforceable. There is a distinction, but the hon. Lady might be right to say that debt relief measures so far—she was right to acknowledge the considerable steps taken by commercial lenders in addition to those taken by Governments and international organisations—have substantially reduced the burden on impoverished countries. The Bill might well not affect premiums, but it is right that we explore the matter. I was saying that the Bill could be criticised for being too prescriptive. Why is it targeted only at the public debts of HIPCs and not those of developing countries more widely? The alternative argument is that the Bill will not do the job because it will create uncertainty for creditors of developing countries, whether HIPCs or otherwise. To be fair, in paragraph 2.30 of its response to the consultation, the Treasury states:""Predicting the scale of any negative spillovers from legislation is very difficult in advance of legislation."" I am not claiming to know the answer, but given that the Treasury acknowledges uncertainty, we need to examine the arguments closely.