Financial Services Bill

I did not take part in the Second Reading of the Bill either, but I have sat this afternoon listening to the debate and now need to make clear in my own mind exactly what is going to happen. We hear about a wash-up. We have got to be careful that a wash-up does not become a cock-up. Is Parliament going to have oversight of what is apparently going to be agreed by the Front Benches? After all, this is a significant and divisive matter. There are disputes and disagreements between the parties. I simply do not know how they can be resolved in a way that this House will agree to. When he comes to reply, the noble Lord must give us some assurance that Parliament is to continue to have an oversight of whatever is to be agreed by the Front Benches. Too often when the Front Benches agree the legislation becomes bad. Particularly on the question of financial controls of the institutions and banks, we need legislation which is seen to be good and which will work. Before I sit down, I have a question on the role of Parliament in this whole matter of control. All those institutions are responsible to Parliament but there is no mention, as far as I can see, of a significant role for Parliament. If Parliament had been more involved in the financial problems we have had, and in the run-up to them, the outcome might have been different—and better for this country. From now on, as we are clearly going to enter a new era, we must make sure that Parliament becomes far more powerful and watchful than it has been over the past years. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Myners, will be able to give us some assurance about that as well.