Financial Services Bill

I can only repeat to the noble Lord, Lord Northbrook, what the noble Baroness has been saying: there are three members of the council. There may well be others in attendance providing support to the three principal actors, plus those responsible for minuting the meeting, but the council comprises the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Governor of the Bank of England and the chairman of the Financial Services Authority. They will consider the report in a minuted meeting and if they were not happy with the report I am confident that the chairman of the FSA and the Governor of the Bank of England would make clear in their comments that they were not content, and they would, through the careful process we have set out for ensuring that there is adequate time to prepare and agree the minutes, ensure that those minutes reflected their views. I regard that as a powerful sanction. Indeed, I would suggest to the noble Lord, Lord Northbrook, that they are akin to the raising of eyebrows—a sanction to which the noble Lord has in the past referred to with some fondness.