Banking (Special Provisions) Bill

My Lords, we will act only with regard to Northern Rock under the legislation, as the noble Lord will recognise. The reason why the Bill has a sunset clause is that, although the powers need to be obtained by the Government against unforeseen eventualities, we will see those powers superseded by the proper and necessary banking regulation legislation that we intend to introduce later in the year. In the mean time, we need necessary defences against circumstances that none of us can foresee but that we all recognise as being troubled. It is merely wisdom on the part of the Government to use the occasion to take the necessary powers in the Bill, because otherwise we would be open to the charge—from the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, primarily, and many of his colleagues—of allowing another eventuality to occur and we would be obliged to come to the House on the basis of rushed legislation and problems all around. In clear circumstances we should take the opportunity for the House to consider what is necessary in the relatively short term—the next 12 months—before we can get our fundamentally revised legislation in place.