Industry and Exports (Financial Support) Bill

As I said to the hon. Gentleman, it is operational now, in the sense that we are at the stage of advanced discussions with the banks on the packages that will be made available. I remind him that we are providing £10 billion in guarantees to support £20 billion in working capital lines continuing to be made available, freeing up additional working capital, as well. That is on top of the additional lending being made available to the economy as a result of the commitments we have secured from the banks participating in the asset protection scheme. RBS is committed to providing an additional £16 billion in lending to the business sector this year and, potentially, next; as for Lloyds Banking Group, the figure is £11 billion this year and next. That is significant additional lending, which we all recognise as important. Frankly, the points made by the Opposition would have a lot more credibility if they did not try to rewrite history every few months. At first they were in favour of recapitalising the banks; now they say they are going through a major lesson in humility, which seems to be born of an attempt to criticise the Government, when in fact they have no credible alternative plans whatsoever. I have sat on the Front Bench over the past months waiting to hear from the Conservatives a credible alternative policy or a suggestion about what should be done. It is one thing being in opposition and wanting to oppose the Government and, rightly, scrutinise what we do; but sometimes, it would be nice to have some constructive opposition and to hear a proposal. Let me deal with some of the other Government programmes that have been available. The hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk) mentioned the capital for enterprise fund. It is important to note that, as he well knows, this is an investment fund—it is about equity and businesses seeking long-term investment, so it is not a quick fix. Some 231 businesses have already registered their interest in the scheme and, as with any other investment fund, we will need to undertake due diligence before making investments. It is a relatively small fund, but the provision of equity capital at this point in the economic cycle is needed by many businesses. The hon. Gentleman ought to be welcoming what we are doing. If he has different proposals and suggestions that he wants to make about what we should be doing to address the equity gap, let us hear them and hear how he is going to fund them. The Government are very clear and transparent about what we are doing and why.