We find ourselves in a situation where the victims, the FSA and the Treasury all recognise that there is a Crisis in the Cheque Clearing System and that it is failing consumers, but no arm of the Government has the ownership or authority to resolve the problem; instead, it is left in the hands of the banks that created it.

I listened carefully to the good case that he made, but when he referred to a Crisis in the Cheque Clearing System, I thought that he was somewhat overstating the position at which we have arrived.