Deficit Reduction

Lord Davies of Oldham Excerpts

Tuesday 18th January 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Oldham]

My Lords, the Minister has made clear that he expects to reap the rewards from Labour’s investment and make profits in due course. Will he be a little clearer to the House about the banks? Will the Government introduce criteria on the effectiveness of banks in lending, for example, and even, perhaps, control of bank bonuses?

[Lord Sassoon]

Well, my Lords, it has come to a pretty pass when the noble Lord characterises the investment in the banks as some sort of voluntary investment to make a return. It was necessary to bail out and save the British economy because the previous model of financial regulation had completely failed. Under the stewardship of the new Government, we will do our best to get back the investment, and hopefully more, that was necessarily put in by the previous Government. That is what we are doing.