Consumer Credit Bill

I could not agree more with my hon. Friend, and neither, no doubt, could the House. Most people who approach the CAB are struggling with debt upon debt, not one set of debt. They have taken out too many credit cards—too many lines of credit. The Minister will be interested to know that that is the major part of the CAB’s job, and the problem is getting worse. I hope that the Bill will address it, otherwise I suspect that the Minister will be back before the House making sweeping amendments to the Bill. He shakes his head. I hope he is right. There is another aspect of licences that may require further attention. I refer to the ability of international companies to trade. They can be based in any country and their subsidiaries can legitimately be based in the United Kingdom, as with many banks and other organisations. One of the problems is their ability to lend money in the United Kingdom. Regulation has been difficult enough through the Financial Services Authority and other organisations, let alone the OFT. The Minister will understand that international law enforcement to bring to book companies that have lent in the UK from an international base is almost impossible. The OFT has no power to do that.