---

Financial Services Bill

My Lords, I shall weep no tears for the removal of Clauses 1, 3, 4 and 5. We spent most of our first two days in Committee talking about these clauses, and I think our views on the Council for Financial Stability were made clear during our discussions. However, I am less happy about losing Clauses 2 and 6. As the Minister said, Clause 2 came from an amendment tabled by my noble friend Lord Hamilton that was agreed to on a Division in your Lordships' House. It asks for a report on the structure of the UK financial system, which we believe is a topic that cannot be ducked. My noble friend’s amendment was phrased in terms of the Council for Financial Stability and therefore does not sit easily in the Bill, but the idea behind it remains valid. I say to my noble friend and all noble Lords who supported the amendment that if my party forms the next Government, that topic will not be ignored. I was disappointed to hear that the Government wished to remove Clause 6 as part of the wash-up procedures. When I moved the amendment to insert that clause, the Minister, and the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Oldham, whom I see in his place, sat mute and the amendment was accepted into the Bill. The amendment addresses a real issue about informing Parliament in a timely way about financial assistance to the Bank of England. It is not met by any other provisions. My amendment was designed to ensure that the Government—any Government—could not keep Parliament in the dark again, as happened last year in relation to more than £60 billion of support for RBS and HBOS. I am saddened to see it go, but accept it as part of the wash-up arrangements. Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: My Lords, obviously we accept the deletion of the clauses; we are just sorry that so much time has been wasted discussing them and that so much uncertainty has been created for the City of London and for our regulated structure by these half-baked Conservative proposals which have been floating around. Let us hope that they never see the light of day after the election. Amendment 1 agreed. Amendments 2 to 6 Moved by