Speeches by Grady.

“I wonder whether the right hon. Gentleman might clarify one point on the Opposition’s position. In Scotland, there has never been a right for the accused to elect to have a jury trial. The prosecution decides whether a case will go to jury trial. Is the Opposition’s position that such a reform in England should be oppo…”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way on that point?”

“I should declare that I have a family member who works for a large building society. Just following up on Mr Glen’s question first of all, throughout this hearing we have heard various bits of legislation that need to be changed, and we will come across another one later, I suspect—the Credit Unions Act 1979. Does the …”

“Exactly.”

“To summarise this chapter of evidence more generally, the legislation governing mutuals, things like the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, the Credit Unions Act 1979 and so on, is all antiquated and needs thorough modernisation. Until we do that, we are not going to get the progress we would all like to see. Is t…”

“I have one follow-up question for your thoughts. One of the things about local credit unions and local mutuals is they get to know their communities, and that is often their unique but really important point of social value. That inherently puts them at a disadvantage to everyone else who operates electronically and in…”

“This is tolerable harm.”

“Who in the FCA is responsible for driving this forward? Who is accountable to you for driving it forward day to day?”

“You have set up a mutual societies development unit, which is very exciting. The FCA and PRA have roles here. Can you briefly outline what you are looking to achieve with the way you see people’s remits here?”

“What do you see as the benefits for the economy of the people and consumers in growing the mutual sector?”

“All very interesting, but what are the barriers to growth for financial mutuals, Mr Rathi?”

“Would you be prepared to share that with the Committee?”

“Moving on to building societies and mutuals, policy context is that the Government want to double the size of this sector. What are the main barriers, Mr Rathi, to growth of financial mutuals, from the FCA’s perspective?”

“Is it something you are looking at from the point of view of an investigation as to whether that requirement has been met in the overall marketing of this product?”

“My understanding of a consumer duty, Ms Pritchard, is that firms have to tailor their communications to the consumer characteristics. Is that something you are looking at here, and the FCA is paying wider attention to at the moment?”

“There are very many people who bought this product with the understanding that it would pay out no matter when they died. I wonder whether that engages a breach of a consumer duty from a point of view of the nature of the communications to those consumers. Those are vulnerable consumers and they have not understood, on…”

“Mr Rathi, the Government’s financial inclusion strategy emphasises the importance of trust in financial services for vulnerable consumers, and it will go nowhere unless that trust is enhanced. There are many people in Britain who have paid thousands of pounds for funeral protection plans that have been withdrawn by Mai…”

“It is about choices—choices to invest in the health service so that people can return to work and contribute to the economy. There is nothing more heartbreaking than being a constituency MP and listening to people who have been waiting for over two years for a hip operation and cannot work. It is about choices to inves…”

“I fully support the Chancellor’s decision to rebuild the headroom, tackle Government borrowing and stick to her fiscal rules. It is consistent with Labour values. There is nothing progressive about 10% of Government spending being on interest. There is nothing progressive about leaving unsustainable debt to future gene…”

“I have worked in hospitality. I am not sure I was particularly successful at it, but there is a macro point here—an important point not to lose sight of. We hear from Opposition Members objection after objection to the Chancellor’s decisions, but no credible alternatives.”