Banking Bill

I understand why the hon. Gentleman wants an order of precedence. On balance I am broadly supportive, but I have a question. If the situation is critical and speed is of the essence to prevent an institution from causing a systemic failure, is it absolutely necessary or even desirable to lay out the order of precedence in the way that he describes, especially given how long the discussions with various private sector bidders for Northern Rock took? Should the order of precedence not be implicit rather than explicit, thus allowing the Government to move immediately to the second or third option, thereby treating them as the first option, if that is necessary under the circumstances?