Lord Richard
Main Page: Lord Richard (Labour - Life peer)
Lord Sassoon
I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Noakes for reminding us that all this has gone on for far too long and that the 13 years compares ill with the few days in which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has gripped the problem. I shall certainly relay her remarks on to my right honourable friend. I am also pleased to confirm what my noble friend said about the governance of the Bank.
Lord Richard
My Lords, perhaps I may ask the Minister what I hope is a severely practical question: can he do all this without primary legislation?
Lord Sassoon
My Lords, I am grateful for the noble Lord’s question but we should come back to the issue of institutional arrangements once my honourable friend the Financial Secretary has made his Statement tomorrow.
Lord Richard
With respect, I am not talking about institutional arrangements. The noble Lord has set out the structure that the Government wish to introduce: can they do so without primary legislation? It is a simple point.
Lord Sassoon
We will put in place as soon as possible an interim financial policy committee. Whether we need legislation and what the nature of that legislation is rather critically depends on the institutional arrangements we are going to put in place. That is something we will come back to when I repeat, no doubt, my right honourable friend’s Statement tomorrow.