Northern Rock plc Transfer Order 2009

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Newby, and my noble friend Lord Bates for their important contributions to the debate. As the Minister knows, I was keen to raise issues related largely to process and whether Parliament had been given a proper opportunity to consider the order. I remain unconvinced by the Minister’s answers. At one stage, I think that he suggested that if a certain number of pages had to be included in the paperwork that came with an order it would make it unacceptable or too detailed. That rather misses the point of the role of Parliament. As the noble Lord, Lord Newby, was kind enough to point out, we should not have to go devilling around websites looking for several hundred pages of information and to interpret them ourselves. I remain concerned at the Government’s saying that selling something to a third party would be a consideration and might require an affirmative order, but if one transfers to something that is not a third party—although as between two companies, they are third parties—it is simply mathematics and it is not paying a price. However, it is a price and it could be argued that it was a consideration which should have received an affirmative order. I shall not pursue that line further today. In addition to the process orders, where I think the Minister has not answered, I raised some substantive issues. I hope that he will write to me on the pension scheme. If necessary, we will debate that further in the Chamber. I was interested to hear the Minister say that in the orderly wind-down of the bad bank, all the creditors would be paid in full in Northern Rock (Asset Management). I would like to study further in Hansard what the Minister has said, because it is an extremely interesting statement which may result in further discussions in your Lordships’ House. I beg leave to withdraw the Motion. Motion withdrawn.