Business of the House

Steve Rotheram Excerpts

Thursday 13th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

I applaud my hon. Friend’s sentiments. He was probably in the House when the Chancellor made his statement suggesting a very robust negotiating position with the banks. The Chancellor also indicated during questions and answers that he would want to report back to the House once those negotiations had been completed.

[Steve Rotheram (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

Following on from the previous question, I understand that the Government’s ongoing talks with the five biggest banks on bankers’ bonuses is ironically called Project Merlin. Is that because Standard Chartered bank has already disappeared from the talks, and Santander is likely to vanish from them, too? Will the Leader of the House pull a rabbit out of the hat and facilitate an urgent debate on bankers’ bonuses, and everybody else can then fill in their own puns?

[Sir George Young]

I shall see whether I can produce a sword from a stone. We are talking about negotiations and discussions that should have taken place some time ago, when the taxpayer was helping the banks, but they did not take place then. We are now—belatedly, because of the inaction of the previous Government—trying to make sure that taxpayers get value for money for the investment in the banks. As I said a few moments ago, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a statement about the talks on Tuesday, and he indicated that he would want to keep the House in the picture when they were concluded.