Banking (Special Provisions) Bill

My Lords, I am sorry to rise again, but I do not think that the noble Lord was here when I made my points earlier. The main one was in respect of Northern Rock. We have spent far more parliamentary time in detailed consideration of all aspects of the nationalisation of Northern Rock this week than we would have had regardless of whether there had been an affirmative or a negative resolution to consider. The argument for an affirmative resolution on Northern Rock, where urgency is of the essence, therefore does not hold as it would in normal circumstances. As for the generality, like the noble Lord, I agree that we should be able to amend affirmative resolutions. The view of the House ought to be that rejecting an affirmative resolution is anything but the nuclear option. Rejecting an affirmative resolution within your own party or more generally in the House is not seen as an acceptable way of proceeding except in the most extreme circumstances. I am very happy to join with the noble Lord on moving to a situation where it can be done more regularly. But I was talking about the situation and practices of the House with which we currently contend.