Clause 228
Banking Bill
3:15 pm
Colin Breed (Shadow Minister, Treasury; South East Cornwall, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 11, in clause 228, page 107, line 28, leave out ‘or in any other way’.
I suppose that my concerns about the clause are similar to those expressed by the hon. Member for Fareham about the previous clause, in the sense that I seek only to remove the last five words from the clause. The FSA should, quite rightly, have powers to collect and share information. Those functions are clearly set out in section 165 of the Financial Services and Markets Act.
The Government have a tendency to add little bits like
“or in any other way”,
which serve two purposes. The first is to undermine the basis of the original authority of the Financial Services and Markets Act. The clause might just as well say that the FSA can perform its function in any way that it likes without any reference to the Act. The second is to provide legislative cover for any actions that might be considered inappropriate. That justifies the means by the ends. Hence, the assets of Landsbanki were seized under terrorism legislation.
The gathering of information from individuals in their homes or places of work in any way, at any time of the day or night and in any circumstances, such as breaking into premises, can all be justified by this legislation. I can see people shaking their heads. We have had a simple respect for Government, but far too often we have received assurances that legislation will never be used in such ways. Regrettably, that was said in the context of animal welfare and inspectors have totally misused the powers that were granted.