David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West, raised questions in Parliament yesterday over the Government’s bail-out of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Mr Amess asked Ian Pearson, Economic Secretary at the Treasury: “What response his Department plans to make to the National Audit Office report on the Government’s support for banks.â€
Mr Pearson replied: “The Government welcome [sic] the National Audit Office’s recent report, and particularly its conclusion that the support that we have provided to the banks was justified.
“We will consider the report and respond in the normal way.â€
Unsatisfied with this answer, Mr Amess pressed the issue, continuing: “I am sure that that response will make very interesting reading, but perhaps the Minister will explain why the Treasury gave a clean bill of health to the Royal Bank of Scotland just weeks before the bail-out.â€
Mr Pearson flatly denied that such a declaration had been made, responding: “It is my understanding that the Treasury did no such thing.
“We will obviously respond to the report in detail in due course, but I should like to quote paragraph 19 to the hon. Gentleman: ‘If the support measures had not been put in place, the scale of the economic and social costs if one or more major UK banks had collapsed is difficult to envision. The support provided to the banks was therefore clearly justified.’â€
