Member

If the Government are still, at this late stage, negotiating with the very organisations on which the entire delivery of this regime depends, it calls into question the adequacy of the preparation and engagement that took place at the outset. It suggests that key delivery partners—the banks—were treated as an afterthought rather than essential collaborators, and that is the crux of the problem. Banks are not peripheral actors in the Bill; they are central to the entire enforcement mechanism. Without their co-operation, the Bill simply cannot operate. How can it be right that their input is only now being factored into the design of the process? It is not responsible to legislate in this way, by amendment and last-minute revision, rather than through meaningful consultation at the drafting stage.