Building Societies (Funding) and Mutual Societies (Transfers) Bill

That is probably a worthwhile request to the Minister. I too hope that she can clarify her understanding of the consequences. As I have explained, I believe that the issue is resolved by the fact that the British legislation will apply in all circumstances in which the United Kingdom Government have jurisdiction, and will not apply in areas where they do not have that jurisdiction. The hon. Member for Bournemouth, West has already made an analogy with another financial institution that explicitly organises its operations following a takeover of a British-based financial institution in order to ensure that its British operations must adhere to British legislation, and that at the same time it operates according to the regulations as they apply in other European states. I was interested by what the hon. Member for Fareham and others said about the difficulty of not having a harmonised system of regulations across the European Union as a whole. Far be it from me to suggest that that sounds like a curious plea from those on the Conservative Front Bench for fiscal and legislative harmonisation across the EU, which I personally feel—perhaps this makes me a Eurosceptic—would be taking things too far.