Clause 170
Banking Bill
11:15 am
David Gauke (Shadow Minister, Treasury; South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, although I do not know whether I should apologise for titillating him or not. I was going to come to that very point.
It is noticeable that, in some jurisdictions, the performance of a payment system is performed by a central bank, essentially, rather than by private entities that are regulated. It might be helpful to the Committee if the Minister indicated whether the Government considered nationalising payment systems. For the avoidance of doubt, he could explain why he thinks that nationalisation is a bad idea. We are with the Government in viewing a regulatory system, rather than nationalisation, as appropriate, but perhaps the Minister would elaborate.