Opposition day on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, in the House of Commons, led by Chris Leslie. The answering members were David Gauke, Cathy Jamieson and Sajid Javid.

Banking

Seventeenth opposition day debate (part one). Main question negatived on division (242 to 304).

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 573
Session: 2013-14
Department: Treasury
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions: Chris Leslie | 573 c857 (Link to this contribution)
I beg to move,
That this House believes that Government reforms have failed to deliver a co...; Tobias Ellwood | 573 c857 (Link to this contribution)
The shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury seems to have glossed over the fact that City bonuses ...; Chris Leslie | 573 c858 (Link to this contribution)
I am not sure that the hon. Gentleman has alighted on the best criticism of the fact that we are ...; Barry Sheerman | 573 c858 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree not only that this is a good day to have this debate, but that most of ...; Chris Leslie | 573 c858 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right to speak of the anger that his constituents feel. While many of his const...; Stephen Mosley | 573 c858 (Link to this contribution)
Does the hon. Gentleman accept that under this Government, bonuses have more than halved?; Chris Leslie | 573 c858 (Link to this contribution)
I do not know where the hon. Gentleman was at the beginning of my speech, but City analysts are p...; Sammy Wilson | 573 c859 (Link to this contribution)
Does the hon. Gentleman recognise that although bonuses may have been halved, in banks such as RB...; Chris Leslie | 573 c859 (Link to this contribution)
That is exactly the issue that we are debating.
For all the sophistry and smoke-and-mirrors...; Jesse Norman | 573 c859 (Link to this contribution)
It is deplorable that this debate has been scheduled during a Treasury Committee hearing. As a me...; Chris Leslie | 573 c859 (Link to this contribution)
There they go again, denying that the banks had any responsibility whatever for the global financ...; John Bercow | 573 c859 (Link to this contribution)
Order. The hon. Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (Jesse Norman) is usually the epitome...; Chris Leslie | 573 c859 (Link to this contribution)
I now have an image in my mind, Mr Speaker, but we will move on.
I want to pin down the pos...; Andrew Gwynne | 573 c859 (Link to this contribution)
Will my hon. Friend give way?; Chris Leslie | 573 c860 (Link to this contribution)
I will give way to my hon. Friend in a moment, but I want to finish this point.
The Prime M...; Huw Irranca-Davies | 573 c860 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree that this is a question of leadership? If leadership is not shown by th...; Chris Leslie | 573 c860 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right. The motion states explicitly that the Chancellor should exercise his rol...; Andrew Gwynne | 573 c860 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend will know that on 1 January the EU bankers bonus cap came in and it restricts the ...; Chris Leslie | 573 c860 (Link to this contribution)
One of the questions I have for the Minister is precisely about how much it is costing the taxpay...; Ian Lucas | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree that it is very important indeed to establish the amount of money that ...; Chris Leslie | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
Government Members will have to confront this issue, because it is a decision they will to have t...; Guy Opperman | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
The motion mentions the requirement for greater competition. The hon. Gentleman will be aware tha...; Ian Lucas | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
Nonsense!; Guy Opperman | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
I can definitely assure the hon. Gentleman that that is absolutely correct and that many are comi...; Chris Leslie | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
I am not quite sure what planet the hon. Gentleman is living on, but we have been consistently ta...; Angus Brendan MacNeil | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman is probably aware that the respected Nobel prize winner Professor Joseph Stigl...; Chris Leslie | 573 c861 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. This morning the Chancellor gave his rationale for disagre...; Emily Thornberry | 573 c862 (Link to this contribution)
I wonder whether my hon. Friend can help the House. Have the Government ever given any indication...; Chris Leslie | 573 c862 (Link to this contribution)
I do not think they have, although I think before the general election the Prime Minister indicat...; Russell Brown | 573 c862 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend mentions the LIBOR scandal and the mis-selling of products. May I put on record my...; Chris Leslie | 573 c863 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend puts his finger on the point, which is that most of our constituents would say tha...; Jesse Norman | 573 c863 (Link to this contribution)
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman could update the House later on what cap on bonuses was set by the pre...; Chris Leslie | 573 c863 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman and I differ in our analysis of what happened—I will explain why in a moment—a...; Sheila Gilmore | 573 c863 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend share my incredulity that the Conservative party, which in opposition accused...; Chris Leslie | 573 cc863-4 (Link to this contribution)
There is a touch of revisionism from Government Members, but perhaps that is a bit generous; thei...; Jim Cunningham | 573 c864 (Link to this contribution)
I apologise for arriving late, Mr Speaker. I am sure my hon. Friend would agree that in the last ...; Chris Leslie | 573 c864 (Link to this contribution)
This is why this Government’s narrative is beginning to crumble around the edges. Most people rea...; Chris Williamson | 573 c864 (Link to this contribution)
Returning to the point about complacency, did my hon. Friend see the briefing note from the Briti...; Chris Leslie | 573 c864 (Link to this contribution)
We have to feel sorry for senior bankers facing a bonus of merely the same amount as their basic ...; Michael Connarty | 573 c864 (Link to this contribution)
I have been listening intently to my hon. Friend’s delineation of the big ticket items where the ...; Chris Leslie | 573 cc864-5 (Link to this contribution)
Of course, we want to see rewards, bonuses and pay that reflect performance. That is my hon. Frie...; Kwasi Kwarteng | 573 c865 (Link to this contribution)
Members are listening to the hon. Gentleman with astonishment. What exactly did the previous Labo...; Chris Leslie | 573 c865 (Link to this contribution)
The previous Government introduced a bankers bonus tax, which raised billions of pounds that help...; 573 c865 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Chris Leslie | 573 c865 (Link to this contribution)
I would like to make some progress.
Perhaps the most serious area of reform left untouched ...; Baroness Coffey | 573 c866 (Link to this contribution)
It has been widely trailed today that a future Labour Government, if elected, would try to force ...; Chris Leslie | 573 c866 (Link to this contribution)
This is not about shutting branches; it is about making a more competitive sector. Time after tim...; Sajid Javid | 573 c866 (Link to this contribution)
I thought that Labour Members had turned over a new leaf this year: they admitted that they got i...; Michael Connarty | 573 c867 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Sajid Javid | 573 c867 (Link to this contribution)
I will give way to the hon. Gentleman; I might be about to hear an apology, so I will listen care...; Michael Connarty | 573 c867 (Link to this contribution)
I think anyone who reads the transcript deserves an apology from the Minister, who forgot to ment...; Sajid Javid | 573 c867 (Link to this contribution)
I think the hon. Gentleman has a challenged memory of events. I am sad to see that he had an oppo...; Steve Brine | 573 c867 (Link to this contribution)
Perhaps the Minister can answer this question because the shadow Minister did not give way to me....; Sajid Javid | 573 c867 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend highlights the fact that the Labour party has no ideas about how to increase compe...; Harriett Baldwin | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
It is reported today that the Opposition are proposing specific market shares on specific banks. ...; Sajid Javid | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right. It is reported that, this Friday, the Leader of the Opposition will make...; Baroness Brown of Silvertown | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
I am glad we are discussing history, because I am aware of the hon. Gentleman’s own history as a ...; Sajid Javid | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Lady seems to suggest that it is best to have Ministers who have no experience or knowle...; Chris Leslie | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
I would not want the Minister unintentionally to miss answering the important question that my ho...; Sajid Javid | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
I will come to that later in my speech when I will deal with some of the issues that the hon. Gen...; Angus Brendan MacNeil | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
Does the Minister agree that, as with the debate on the bedroom tax before Christmas, this debate...; John Bercow | 573 c868 (Link to this contribution)
I assume that the hon. Gentleman will not seek to make a speech in the debate, on the grounds tha...; Sajid Javid | 573 c869 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman will know that inequality surged under the previous Government and has come do...; Jesse Norman | 573 c869 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is making an extremely powerful case, but may I remind him of the central fact of ...; Sajid Javid | 573 c869 (Link to this contribution)
As always, my hon. Friend is spot on. Because of the changes that Labour made in the regulatory s...; Eilidh Whiteford | 573 c869 (Link to this contribution)
Small businesses have been among the biggest victims of the financial crisis, because banks have ...; Sajid Javid | 573 c869 (Link to this contribution)
I agree with the hon. Lady that businesses rely on the banks for the lending that they need. The ...; Ian Lucas | 573 c869 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister is endorsing a noble cause in recommending support for small business and for manufa...; Sajid Javid | 573 cc869-870 (Link to this contribution)
Part of the answer might be that manufacturing was decimated under the last Government. Its share...; Chris Williamson | 573 c870 (Link to this contribution)
I think that the Minister should admit that the Government have watered down the Vickers commissi...; Sajid Javid | 573 c870 (Link to this contribution)
That is exactly what we have not done. We have accepted the central recommendations of the Vicker...; Guy Opperman | 573 c870 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend attended the local banking conference that I organised shortly before Christmas. D...; Sajid Javid | 573 c870 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend’s intervention gives me an opportunity to commend him for his initiative to promot...; Chi Onwurah | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister has spoken in strong terms about the experience of the financial services. Does he a...; Sajid Javid | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
What I do accept is that badly structured and badly designed bonuses will lead to bad behaviour. ...; Baroness Coffey | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is making great progress in the debate. Will he also mention the fact that taxpaye...; Sajid Javid | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
I am glad that my hon. Friend has referred to that. It was the right thing to do, and it demonstr...; Lord Stunell | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend mentioned the shadow Chancellor’s failure to tackle the abuses that were taking pl...; Sajid Javid | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
My right hon. Friend has made an important point. I have already quoted what the shadow Chancello...; Kwasi Kwarteng | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister share with the House his thoughts about which member of the last Government rec...; Sajid Javid | 573 c871 (Link to this contribution)
I have to tell my hon. Friend that I am not sure who it was, but I know that the knighthood was w...; Jesse Norman | 573 c872 (Link to this contribution)
Was it not the previous Prime Minister who said, “We will do for Great Britain what we have done ...; Sajid Javid | 573 c872 (Link to this contribution)
Again, my hon. Friend makes an excellent point.; Huw Irranca-Davies | 573 c872 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister is understandably making a case for the financial sector, as he also should for manu...; Sajid Javid | 573 c872 (Link to this contribution)
I will come on to that topic shortly and share with the hon. Gentleman some numbers that show wha...; Chris Leslie | 573 c872 (Link to this contribution)
Do it now.; Sajid Javid | 573 cc872-3 (Link to this contribution)
I will come on to it. The hon. Gentleman raised the two issues of banking competition and remuner...; Emily Thornberry | 573 c873 (Link to this contribution)
If the public are watching this debate, they may well want to ask the question I shall ask now, a...; Sajid Javid | 573 c873 (Link to this contribution)
First, I am not sure even whether the Opposition have a view on what the right level of bonuses i...; Kwasi Kwarteng | 573 c873 (Link to this contribution)
Will my hon. Friend explain to the House what the last Government said about bonus levels, if the...; Sajid Javid | 573 c873 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend again rightly points out that the previous Government did nothing when bonuses wer...; Chris Leslie | 573 c873 (Link to this contribution)
We now come to the point that the Minister has twice said he would address later on, so will he a...; Sajid Javid | 573 cc873-4 (Link to this contribution)
That is exactly what I was coming on to next. It is important for taxpayers that any proposals by...; Chris Williamson | 573 c874 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister give way?; Andrew Gwynne | 573 c874 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister give way?; Sajid Javid | 573 c874 (Link to this contribution)
No, I have given way enough and others want to speak.
If we need an example of how little t...; 573 c874 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 573 c874 (Link to this contribution)
Order. Before I call the next speaker, I should say that obviously a great many Members wish to c...; Michael Connarty | 573 cc874-7 (Link to this contribution)
If I refuse to take interventions, it will not be because I do not think Members have a good cont...; Harriett Baldwin | 573 c875 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty). I,...; Mark Garnier | 573 c875 (Link to this contribution)
Will my hon. Friend remind the House who the architect of the Financial Services and Markets Act ...; Harriett Baldwin | 573 cc875-8 (Link to this contribution)
I think I am right in saying that the then City Minister is now the shadow Chancellor. My hon. Fr...; Andrew Gwynne | 573 cc878-9 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to be called in this debate, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to follow the hon. Member fo...; Mark Garnier | 573 c879 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Andrew Gwynne | 573 cc879-880 (Link to this contribution)
I will not give way because many hon. Members wish to contribute. Clearly, those structural weakn...; Tobias Ellwood | 573 cc880-2 (Link to this contribution)
It is pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne). I agree that thi...; Ian Lucas | 573 cc882-4 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), although I am afrai...; Brian Binley | 573 cc884-6 (Link to this contribution)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas) on a thoughtful speech. At least it ranged...; Sammy Wilson | 573 c886 (Link to this contribution)
It is a joy to follow the hon. Member for Northampton South (Mr Binley), who has hit on a very im...; Tobias Ellwood | 573 c886 (Link to this contribution)
I will keep my intervention short; I am conscious of Madam Deputy Speaker’s guidance. The concern...; Sammy Wilson | 573 cc886-8 (Link to this contribution)
I could believe the hon. Gentleman if there was some evidence of that. Ministers have boasted tod...; Ian Swales | 573 cc888-9 (Link to this contribution)
I naturally share many of the concerns expressed today, but a common theme seems to be emerging f...; Baroness Burt of Solihull | 573 c889 (Link to this contribution)
I am following closely what my hon. Friend is saying about regional banks. In America there are t...; Ian Swales | 573 cc889-890 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend makes an important point. Not only should we see that trend here, but the Governme...; Bill Esterson | 573 cc890-2 (Link to this contribution)
Like other hon. Members, I want to speak about some of my constituents’ experiences with the bank...; Kwasi Kwarteng | 573 cc891-3 (Link to this contribution)
I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson), who gave a very measur...; Michael Meacher | 573 cc893-4 (Link to this contribution)
This has been a timely debate and I say that advisedly, having listened to the complacent, provoc...; Guy Opperman | 573 c894 (Link to this contribution)
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?; Michael Meacher | 573 cc894-5 (Link to this contribution)
I have no time to give way.
By being too big to fail, the banks exacerbate moral hazard, be...; 573 c895 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 573 cc895-6 (Link to this contribution)
Order. It will be obvious to the House that every speaker has taken their full eight minutes or m...; Guy Opperman | 573 cc896-7 (Link to this contribution)
Greater competition, the desire for local banks and the Labour policy to close regional voluntari...; Alison McGovern | 573 cc897-8 (Link to this contribution)
I am sorry that the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) appears to be leaving his place, ...; David Mowat | 573 c898 (Link to this contribution)
I agree completely on the need for global co-operation, as do the Government. That is why the Bas...; Alison McGovern | 573 cc898-9 (Link to this contribution)
We seem to be hearing that argument more and more from the Tory party. I am sorry to hear it from...; Sheila Gilmore | 573 cc899-901 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Member for Redcar (Ian Swales) suggested that there was a pattern to these debates. The ...; Cathy Jamieson | 573 cc901-2 (Link to this contribution)
As many hon. Members have said, this has been an interesting debate. Surprisingly, some Members t...; Angus Brendan MacNeil | 573 c902 (Link to this contribution)
What does the hon. Lady think could be done with the money currently put in the bonus pot? What e...; Cathy Jamieson | 573 cc902-4 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman will know that Labour’s policy, which I am sure he will support, is to use the...; David Gauke | 573 cc903-5 (Link to this contribution)
This has been a thoughtful and interesting debate. I particularly thank my hon. Friends the Membe...; Bill Esterson | 573 c905 (Link to this contribution)
Don’t worry, I’m not after a knighthood. The Minister’s party colleague, the hon. Member for Nort...; David Gauke | 573 c905 (Link to this contribution)
Gross lending is up, but one thing that will not help small businesses is if our interest rates r...; Brian Binley | 573 c905 (Link to this contribution)
May I make the point that I did argue that business lending from the funding for lending scheme w...; David Gauke | 573 c905 (Link to this contribution)
I agree with that, and we are focusing the funding for lending scheme on exactly that purpose.; Angus Brendan MacNeil | 573 c905 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister give way?; David Gauke | 573 c905 (Link to this contribution)
No, I shall make some progress.
We did not hear anything about the bankers’ bonus tax from ...; Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 573 c905 (Link to this contribution)
Order. This has been a quiet and dignified debate. Members who were not present during it have no...; David Gauke | 573 cc905-6 (Link to this contribution)
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I do not know whether the Opposition are embarrassed by previous...
Subjects: Consumers Business Banks Competition Pay Loans Reform Taxation Royal Bank of Scotland
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk

Banking

Secondary information

Librarians' tools