Gordon Banks
Main Page: Gordon Banks (Labour - Ochil and South Perthshire)Department Debates - View all Gordon Banks's debates with the Department for Education
(13 years, 2 months ago)
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Vince Cable
There is a consultation process going on at the moment led by my colleague, the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), and we shall respond to it shortly. Clearly, it is essential that we have lending in deprived communities, with social enterprise and credit unions, and we are working to expand those areas.
Gordon Banks (Ochil and South Perthshire) (Lab)
Last week, the man chosen by the Secretary of State to lead his business advisory group and to be his very own sounding board resigned because of the Government’s deal with the banks. Does he agree with his noble Friend Lord Oakeshott that the Government have gone soft on the banks, that the Merlin lending deal does not live up to the coalition agreement and that the Government negotiators were arrogant, incompetent and
“couldn’t negotiate their way out of a paper bag.”?
Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that Lord Oakeshott has taken over his former mantle as the Lib Dem voice of decency on the banks and, as The Independent says:
“Is Lord Oakeshott the new Vince Cable?”
Vince Cable
I do indeed agree with my friend Lord Oakeshott on many issues, including what he says about banking, but on this issue I think he is wrong. May I suggest that a more authoritative view comes from the business organisations whose members will benefit from lending? For example, the CBI—often quoted these days from the Opposition Benches:
“It’s good news that banks have agreed to lend more to businesses, and there will be more transparency in this area.”
The FSB says that
“we welcome the intention to lend more to small businesses.”
They are the people who are benefiting.