My hon. Friend makes a good point. The contents of the entire Bill show how the Government have already resisted the attempts of many in the banking lobby.
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor—this will also interest my hon. Friend—has, as she will know, announced a consultation on bringing the payment system into regulation. We will make sure that new players in the market can access the payment system in a fair and transparent way and that they serve the needs of consumers, not those of established banks. Members may want to note that we will launch this consultation soon after the Budget. I am sure that my hon. Friend will want to make representations on full account portability to the consultation.
Several hon. Members talked about RBS. The Government believe that RBS’s future is as a major UK bank with the majority of its businesses in the UK as regards personal, SME and corporate banking. United Kingdom Financial Investments Ltd continues to be responsible for managing the Government’s shareholding in RBS on a commercial and arm’s-length basis and for developing and executing a strategy for disposing of the
investment in an orderly and active way. UKFI continues to look at a full range of options for disposing of the investment, and RBS should emerge as a stronger and safer bank able to maintain lending to businesses and consumers that can, in time, be returned to full private sector ownership.
The Bill before us ensures that a future Government can keep bank branches going and cash machines operating while letting investment arms fail. It ensures that taxpayers will not fork out for the mistakes of others. Put simply, it deals with exactly the issues that are of concern to most of the UK public after the recent crisis. Financial services are a vital part of our economy, as evidenced by points well made by my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster, and they employ over 1 million people across the country. Let us not forget that the total tax take of the financial sector, including the income tax paid by its employees, adds up to over £60 billion—money that we rely on to fund our vital public services. It is crucial that we make sure that the British public again begin to trust the industry, that banks continue to serve families and businesses, and that the sector becomes what my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has described as a
“financial industry that is strong, successful and inspires the pride of all those who work for it.”
Question put and agreed to.
Bill accordingly read a Second time.