Financial Services Bill

I have every hope that we will and I believe that that is what I have said. However, as I occasionally mis-speak, I will write and correct that if I have misdirected the noble Lord. I reassure noble Lords and the noble Baroness, Lady Valentine, in particular, that the Government recognise the importance of a competitive world-class City that is profitable, responsible, strong and something of which we can be proud. If other European countries had London and Edinburgh, they would be fighting tooth and nail to protect the competitive and comparative advantage that we have. This Government should do the same. I hope that that might give the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, some reassurance on the AIFM directive and other areas of European regulation. We need to be alert and vigilant to the direction of travel in Europe with some of these ESAs and the thinking behind them, which, if we are not vigilant, would encroach on territory that we believe is important should remain as part of our national responsibilities. The noble Baroness asked why we were putting a financial stability objective into the FSA when her recollection was that I had said last year that it was—