Finance Bill

Mike Thornton Excerpts

Monday 1st July 2013 Commons Chamber

This Government have been in power since May 2010, but can the hon. Gentleman provide one example of a criminal case of financial fraud relating to the banking crisis? I challenge him to intervene on that point. Can he give me one example? No. There has not been one, yet this Government have had three years. It might be said that the Labour Government should have acted on the problem. We had 18 months from the banking crisis through to the general election, yet Government Members have had three years. It is now four and a half years since the financial crisis started, but there is still no criminal case.

[Mike Thornton (Eastleigh) (LD)]

The hon. Gentleman talks about banking fraud. The laws that would have been broken would have been laws under the Labour Government, and most of us do not believe in retrospective legislation. I agree with him that most bankers are decent people, but there have been exceptions. Unfortunately, those people did not actually break laws; they simply took appalling decisions with other people’s money, which I agree is a disgrace. As far as I know, however, we have seen no accusations of banking fraud; I could be wrong, but that is my understanding.

[Chris Evans]

I agree that we do not know, as there has been no investigation.