Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

I am very happy to take this away, look at it in the way the Deputy has described and think very hard about the ability I have to do the sorts of things he wants me to do. I will not today accept some of the statements he has made because I feel that would be going way beyond what is reasonable. I wish to be absolutely clear about what I said to the Deputy earlier about my own views here, which I am pretty sure represent the views of the people of the Central Bank but also most of the people in the country. All of us are absolutely appalled at what is happening in the Middle East. However, we have to work within certain parameters. If those parameters allow us to do things we have not done, we will look at it deeply and carefully.

Just to be clear, this is different, for example, from the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia where what we can do and have to do is clear. Those sorts of moves have not been taken by the European Union or by the State in this instance, and the case remains that however deep-felt are the feelings we have about what is happening in Middle East, we have to work within the framework of the law as it exists.