Northern Ireland Banknote (Designation of Authorised Bank) Regulations 2020

Lord Mann Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mann (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I am certain that Walter Scott would be one of the pioneers of cashless payments and internet shopping and banking if he were around today. I suspect that the Minister, whom I welcome to her post, is not yet able to tell us what the impact of the Covid-19 crisis has been on the shift away from cash, but it seems that it will be a significant factor for the Bank of England over the next two years, as people become less reliant on cash. Currently, most retailers—though not all, in my experience—are refusing cash on health and safety grounds and want cashless payments. Psychologically, that expansion in all sectors of the community is going to be very significant for the ongoing use of cash in the country. Policy towards cash will have to be amended in time to impact on that, because none of that would take away Northern Ireland’s right to continue with its banknote tradition.

I am sure that in the sofas and settees across Northern Ireland, there are many banknotes surreptitiously hidden away or slipping away. By what date will those banknotes no longer be redeemable, once they are out of circulation because of this change, and will there be any change to that deadline, depending on the longevity of the Covid-19 crisis?

The significance of this change extends well beyond the banknotes of Northern Ireland. It is notable that we have the first woman chief executive of a major bank, something that those who have argued for greater roles for women in finance greatly welcome. Here, we see a contrast with how RBS operates. The amalgamation that led to this change is sensible business practice, compared with the recklessness that we saw under previous leaderships. I am sure that Fred Goodwin is not paid his pension literally in Scottish or Northern Irish notes—a rather large wheelbarrow would be required each month to provide that—but he is still getting a hugely significant annual pension, bigger than that of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister put together, despite leading that bank to such a failure. Stephen Hester, who replaced him, was more than happy to promote the concept of bonuses within the bank, but it did not learn the cultural changes needed, being 62% owned by the taxpayer. Let us not redeem our purchase cheaply. Let us celebrate that there is good female management of this bank, and let us see more of it.