Banking (Special Provisions) Bill

Let me respond briefly to the points that have been raised, which I have listened to very carefully. The hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) made points that should really be raised on Second Reading. He will have the opportunity to raise them then. I hope that hon. Members will recognise that the Bill is being introduced in very unusual circumstances. It will allow us to deal swiftly, by order, with the position of Northern Rock, and it is right that we are able to do so. Northern Rock shares were suspended yesterday morning, and it is a bank that has faced a series of problems with implications for the financial stability of the banking system. It is also a bank in which the taxpayer has an important and legitimate interest, so it is right that the circumstances surrounding this bank should be resolved as swiftly as possible. Those in the bank, creditors, depositors and so on should have certainty and clarity about who the shareholders are and what the direction of the bank should be. It is important to resolve those issues as swiftly as possible, so I hope that hon. Members will recognise these unusual circumstances and understand that the House needs to respond to them. We need to respond swiftly, now that shares have been withdrawn, in order to be able to put the bank on a proper longer-term footing as rapidly as possible. Finally, the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge effectively asked for a hybrid Bill to deal just with the circumstances of Northern Rock. Any hon. Member who sat on the Committee considering the Crossrail Bill—our most recent hybrid Bill—would not regard it as a Bill that came through the House rapidly to deal with problems that needed to be addressed rapidly. I hope that hon. Members will take this issue seriously and bear in mind that there is a sunset clause on the main powers in the Bill and that we will have an opportunity to debate at great length in the usual way the proper reforms that will be made to the banking system. We shall do so in the proper way through the revised Bill that will replace these powers. I support the motion. Question put:— The House divided: Ayes 291, Noes 223.