Indeed. My right hon. Friend identifies an important issue at the heart of the matter. The business plan before us today in the form of the Chancellor's written ministerial statement talks about repayment of the loan, but does not provide a date by which Northern Rock will exit public ownership. There is a contradiction there, but the first priority must be to repay the loans to eliminate the taxpayer's exposure.
Of course the problem that Northern Rock will have after the five months of dither and delay is that the business itself has made no progress in that time, as the interim management waited for the Treasury to decide what it would do with Northern Rock. The way in which the Government handled Northern Rock stands in stark contrast to the prompt action on Bear Stearns by the US authorities, which were able to organise a private sector solution over a weekend. Of course, we know from the Treasury Committee report and elsewhere that a private sector solution was on the table for Northern Rock before September, but it is clear that the Government turned it down. I wonder how much the Chancellor regrets making the decision back in August, when he washed himself of all sorts of problems, not to accept the offer that was apparently on the table at the time.
Banking (S.I., 2008, No. 432)
Proceeding contribution from
Mark Hoban
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Monday, 31 March 2008.
It occurred during Legislative debate on Banking (S.I., 2008, No. 432).
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