Speeches by Norman.

“So losing their identity, in some sense, in a bigger institution protects their brands and gives them more ability to function?”

“And this would be off-balance-sheet financing from the point of view of the UK Government?”

“If it was 5% or 10% of a bank, it would be, presumably, because they would not have the same level of control.”

“So if it was generating assets, they would take some value from that? Or not? Or they might not consolidate them at all?”

“I have a final question. You have talked about SAFE as being too small in and of itself to satisfy the need, because the need is much greater? Can you talk a little bit about how this is different from other banking proposals in the market or from the Bruegel proposal?”

“So there may be more recent players, but you have actually been thinking about this much longer.”

“Sorry, but you did not talk about what differences from other banking proposals are and what the difference from the Bruegel proposal is?”

“I do not mean to cut you off, but we do not have much time. These other banks—Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank—are often lending to programmes or schemes that will have an explicit economic return or an implicit social return. That is not the case with a defence bank, unless you are lending in the space we h…”

“If commercial banks were able to overcome the concerns that Mr Nelson has mentioned, such as having banking relationships, worrying about ESG, changing their banking rules, and thinking through all the details, then they would be able to borrow from your institution. Obviously, you would require them to do that, becaus…”

“There is a Bruegel proposal out there. How is what you are proposing different from that?”

“Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?”

“Ah, okay. I am very sorry to say that the Leader of the House has corrected me. She is, in fact, a union member and therefore fully complicit in the same problem. The Treasury itself is now the only hold-out against union demands. Little wonder the Chancellor has looked so unhappy and out of sorts—and that was before t…”

“I am afraid to say that the past week has been another horror show for the Government. This is Armed Forces Week, as the House will know. It is a time to celebrate and champion all those who serve and have served in our armed forces, and nowhere more than in my own county of Herefordshire. We must also note that, far f…”

“I will speak to the motion and specifically to the amendment in my name on the Order Paper. As the Leader of the House has said, successive Administrations, in collaboration with the House, have supported across this Chamber the development of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. It was initiated in 2017 un…”

“I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for the question. Of course, it is a Conservative body in the first instance, developed on a cross-party basis. As far as I am aware, there is no desire in my party to make it anything other than a continuously independent body to suppress and prevent the abuses that occurred before …”

“No, that is not true. The motions of this House are not traditionally regarded as a form of bureaucracy; in fact, in many ways they cut through bureaucracy, because they allow us to get to a democratically ratified decision very quickly and transparently. The trouble comes when decisions are made without that transpare…”

“I do not know in what capacity the hon. Gentleman gave evidence to Paul Kernaghan, but that is an extraordinarily misconceived idea. This House is a democratically elected Chamber, and it has been the constitutional doctrine of the United Kingdom for hundreds of years that it should have no superior. That is what we ar…”

“As the House will know, we have incoming news of a terrible disaster involving a flight out of Ahmedabad in India. I know that the Leader of the House will want to say a few words, but, from the Conservative Benches—I am sure that I speak for the whole House—let me wish everyone involved and their families the very bes…”

“Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?”

“You say you were shown and given access to every level of secret information. Can we take it, therefore, that there is a separate report, on matters that are above secret, that has gone to Government alongside the published document?”