Lord Livermore (Lab)

I am grateful to my noble friend for his comments. He started his remarks on the reception for these reforms. I think there is quite a consensus that they are a sensible and proportionate attempt to rebalance the system in the way that he describes. He spoke specifically about the ring-fencing regime and the Governor of the Bank of England’s comments yesterday, which were also referred to earlier. What the governor said and what we are doing are entirely consistent because the Government remain committed to retaining the ring-fencing regime, and that is what the governor was saying should be the case. I think what he said and what we are doing are the same thing. We have announced an intention to implement material reforms to the ring-fencing regime. This will be enacted via a Treasury-led review of the regime with input, crucially, from the Bank of England and the PRA, which will consider both legislation and PRA rules. The review will be published by early 2026. It will look in detail at how reforms to the regime could relieve unnecessary burdens, strengthen the banking sector’s ability to support economic growth and deliver against our commitment to ensure that post-global financial crisis regulation is balanced and proportionate. My noble friend asked about specific details of the reforms. These will be subject to the outcome of the review, so I am unable to detail them at this stage, but we will legislate to take them forward when parliamentary time allows if that becomes necessary.