Financial Stability

My hon. Friend is right to say that the action that we took on Northern Rock is now seen as having been the right thing to do. Clearly, things are still difficult for Northern Rock, as it is for other organisations, and as she well knows, it is also difficult for the people who lost their job with that bank. We are doing everything we can to help. The broader answer to her question is that if we had not done anything, the position would have gradually become more and more difficult. I think that the measures that we announced today will go a long way to help. Obviously, there are a lot of other things going on around the world at the moment, as is shown pretty graphically in the newspapers and on television every day and every night, but I think that the measure is a major step forward. To come back to points that have been raised by Members on both sides of the House, it is important that we try to persuade countries in different parts of the world to deal with the problem. The global economy is a reality now. It brings fantastic opportunities, but there are also some pretty big threats, and we have to deal with them.