Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury – in the House of Commons at 10:30 am on 6 March 2008.
No; the Financial Services Authority has testified that the loan book held by Northern Rock is of high quality. It is the case that Northern Rock has sold high-quality mortgages to Granite, but Northern Rock also holds high-quality mortgages, as assessed by the FSA, on its own books. That is why we have taken the decisions that we have taken, in the interests of financial stability and of the taxpayer.