I am grateful for that intervention, but I do not want to attempt to get into the debate that the commission has considered thoroughly and much more knowledgably than I would be able to do.
The House does not frequently indulge in passing retrospective legislation, but if the senior persons regime is appropriate, is there merit in applying it retrospectively, if only in the form of an exercise through which to judge the conduct of those involved in financial services—in the banks and elsewhere? Whether that took the form of a self-audit conducted by the financial institutions themselves, or further work for the banking commission, to the extent to which that would be feasible, it would be welcome.
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Much of the commission’s work relates to sanctions that would be applied to those directly in the financial institutions themselves, but what about others? My hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire
talked about the role of auditors, but why are the regulators allowed to get off scot-free? Why are there no criminal sanctions for those who set the regulations?
I was extremely pleased that the hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Cathy Jamieson), for whom I have tremendous admiration, spoke about new clause 11 only lightly, because it would be unwise for her to press the point behind the measure too strongly, given that it seems to some people that the previous Government idled by and doled out knighthoods, but never thought about jail. Where on earth was the thought about the people who were suffering owing to the scandals that were under way at that time? I was pleased that she did not press her point aggressively because, as we deal with the current problems, it is clear to many of us whose fingers are all over the crime. We do not need an Inspector Luther or a Miss Marple to know that people in government were responsible for setting the framework under which criminal activity was allowed to run rife. Many of us believe that it is not just the bankers who should hold their heads in shame, but the people in charge of regulation at that time.