Banking: Financial Stability

My Lords, I join all those who broadly support the proposals. I am not sure what the noble Baroness would have said if she had not broadly supported them and whether it would have been much different. I recognise that there is still much to be done with one-on-one negotiations with individual banks before my noble friend will be able to say precisely what will happen. On the preference shares referred to by the Chancellor, my noble friend repeated that the public should share in any upside. Normally, however, preference shares do not share in the same way as ordinary shares. Can I take it that attached to the preference shares, apart from percentage yield, there will be some option to convert over the years ahead? Will that be part of the negotiations with individual banks which might wish to take up the £50 billion that is available? With regard to the other modest little amount of £250 billion in guarantees, the Government are obviously hoping that banks will lend to each other. In those circumstances, the guarantees are hardly likely to be a cost to the Exchequer in the sense that they will not be needed as the banks are never likely to go bust again.