Banking (Special Provisions) Bill

Perhaps I may ask my noble friend two questions. My understanding is that Northern Rock has already withdrawn the 125 per cent mortgages. That was reported by the financial press yesterday. Could my noble friend tell me whether there is any material difference between the arrangements that he has described and those for National Savings, which, of all organisations, could compete unfairly if it was allowed to do so? Secondly, has anyone analysed the potential problems for other financial organisations of the consequences of this amendment? In principle, I am not hostile to its objective to ensure fair competition. The only example that I have heard relates to ISAs, which are simple and straightforward. They have a rate of interest. However, anyone who studies the financial press, particularly at weekends, would spend the whole of the following week trying to decide which offers for savings were competitive and which were not. This matter is well beyond interest rates—people are being offered insurance, interest rates that include bonuses or rates that stop when your balance reaches £2,500. It would require a genius to determine which products were competitive and which were not. In those circumstances, I do not see how the Office of Fair Trading could sensibly, on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, produce something that would be helpful to anyone. If we could deal with this matter broadly along the lines of National Savings, the answer is already there.