Northern Rock and Banking Reform

The hon. Gentleman referred to the US style of deposit insurance enacted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was mentioned earlier. Is he aware that the system in the United States is not exactly parallel, and that in the States there are still more than 1,000 deposit-taking institutions? Some of those are very small, and the concept of deposit insurance may be far more relevant—for example, at the Montana state bank—than it would be at Lloyds in the UK. The hon. Gentleman is comparing apples and oranges. There is a case for deposit protection, but the US example is not quite all it is made out to be.