Results 1-20 of 1,296 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:John McFall

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: Economists would call having one leg in boiling water and the other elsewhere a balanced outcome, but it would not do anyone any good.

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: It is a privilege to speak in the Queen's Speech debate, and I welcome the Government's proposed Bills, especially on financial services and financial stability. Like others, I wish to associate myself with the remarks made from the Front Benches about our troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere. I also commend my right hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Frank Dobson), who has...

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: I can point the right hon. Gentleman precisely to the Treasury Committee report on the run on Northern Rock. It was the lack of prudential regulation by the regulator. The regulator agreed, and indeed, its self-examination came to the same conclusion. Prudential regulation is very important-

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: I see that the right hon. Gentleman agrees with me.

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: No, I do not think so. The regulator realised just how moribund it was in that situation. Lord Adair Turner acknowledged that in his report in March. The chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, Hector Sants, has also acknowledged it. I would like to see those powers being used by the FSA. However, the right hon. and learned Gentleman has made a point that was not covered in his...

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: Perhaps I will leave it to my hon. Friend eloquently to make the partisan case, while I focus on the rest of my speech. The Queen's Speech has highlighted another sharp difference between the Government and the Opposition: the Government are committed to spending money on those who need it most. This crisis has a social dimension, and we have to be alert to that. It is the most vulnerable...

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: I take the hon. Gentleman's point, but one of my recollections of the Northern Rock inquiry was the stand-off position that the FSA adopted regarding individual businesses; I mentioned that earlier in connection with the lack of regulation. The FSA thought that business models were not its priority, but I think that they should be, so we need a cultural change. I believe that we will...

Outlawries Bill: Debate on the Address — [1st Day] (18 Nov 2009)

John McFall: I have visited Canada and spoken to representatives of its central bank. The hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne) is right about the type and structure of banking there, but rather than allow ourselves to be diverted into considering whether it is narrow or not, the big question that we should be asking is: is it too big to fail? The answer to that question is still outstanding-it still...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Banking Reform (3 Nov 2009) has video

John McFall: Is not the story here that RBS is in a worse state than everyone thought last February, and that the Bank of Scotland aspect of HBOS was a basket case? The message is that capital injection is necessary in order to stabilise the banks and to ensure potential returns for the taxpayer, but the Chancellor will be aware that lending is still a problem. I get hosts of e-mails and messages from...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Bank Liabilities (3 Nov 2009) has video

John McFall: Is it not the case that about 90 per cent. of the mortgages held by the Northern Rock management asset company, while having risky characteristics, could come good in the long term? That being the case, will the Chancellor take on board the issue of competition? We know that the British banking system suffers from too little competition. In the process of disposing of Northern Rock—at...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Bank Lending (Small and Medium Businesses) (14 Jul 2009) has video

John McFall: In the Treasury Committee's current inquiry into mortgage lending, the anecdotal evidence coming in to us indicates that credit scoring is tightening almost by the week. The Home Builders Federation has said that lenders are looking for any reason to refuse a loan. In his most recent appearance, the Governor of the Bank of England said that lending to business is falling and lending to...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Reforming Financial Markets (8 Jul 2009)

John McFall: The Treasury Committee has made a detailed examination of the banking crisis. It found nothing wrong with the architecture of the tripartite authority, but a lot wrong with the warnings given by the Bank of England and the FSA, which were too weak. I therefore welcome and the establishment of the proposed council for financial stability. We need it to have strength and grit, and I am looking...

Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury: Savings (9 Jun 2009) has video

John McFall: There will certainly be a reduction in savings from household income in the Cheltenham and Gloucester area today, following the peremptory announcement by Lloyds of the loss of 1,600 Cheltenham & Gloucester jobs. Is it not the case that Lloyds has betrayed any regard for the dignity of people and their employment, and will the Minister join me in writing to the Cheltenham & Gloucester...

Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland: Presbyterian Mutual Society (3 Jun 2009) has video

John McFall: Since the Treasury Committee took evidence in Belfast a number of months ago on the banking crisis, I have continually been in contact with many of the distressed savers, as well as with the moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Dr. Donald Patton. I have also had meetings with Lord Myners and I have written to the administrator, Arthur Boyd. There is an issue here about the Financial Services...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — Amendment of the law (22 Apr 2009)

John McFall: Today's Budget is set against the backdrop of a banking crisis that has in the past year become an economic crisis and is now a social crisis. Witness the problems in Europe, whether we are talking about France, Spain, Greece, or the Republic of Ireland, not to mention the central European countries. Against that backdrop, thousands of jobs have been lost and many more people have had cuts in...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — Amendment of the law (22 Apr 2009)

John McFall: What we did hear from businesses was that they would rather be paying higher interest rates than, say, some of the arrangement fees that the banks were imposing on them—in a number of cases, four or five times the value of what they were paying the previous year. Those are hidden charges from the banks, so they go on the profit and loss account. There is a need for transparency here and...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — Amendment of the law (22 Apr 2009)

John McFall: As I said, the Budget has been presented against an uncertain background, but the right hon. Gentleman should look to some of the economic gurus whom he respects, such as Sam Brittan of the Financial Times. Sam Brittan will say that we should be quite relaxed about public borrowing at the end of the day. Indeed, I refer the right hon. Gentleman to Sam Brittan's article of 27 March, in which...

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation — Amendment of the law (22 Apr 2009)

John McFall: There is a major difference. We have a global crisis—it is being experienced across the whole world. I was in the United States last week and people are talking about the budget deficit being 12 per cent., the sustainability of US accounts and the stress testing of US banks, so certainly we are in a different world. If people do not grasp the fact that we are in a global downturn and...