Mr. John Trethowan:

Of all the cases we asked the banks to uphold, they have come back to explain why they could not do so in respect of two. I explained that in one case the property for which finance was required gave rise to serious planning issues. It is not the case that the customer was having to fight once we gave our opinion. In regard to restructuring versus new money, I still take the view that restructuring is vital to protecting jobs. If banks start to withdraw credit from struggling businesses, we will be in a dire situation.