My hon. Friend may not mind what the Prime Minister says; I happen to support my right hon. Friend and agree with her.

I believe that it is a good thing to have a bank that fosters and encourages private investment in the region because it will give a lead in eastern and central Europe. But the bank will not be in competition with the private sector. It will not lend when funding is available for project proposals from other sources on reasonable terms, but it will lend for a number of activities, one of which I should have been coming to shortly had my hon. Friend given me the opportunity to reach that point in my remarks.

The bank will enable things to be done which might otherwise not have been done but which are in the international interest. I refer, of course, to the control of pollution and the improvement of the environment. I have no hesitation in saying that I believe that it is right that the developed nations, which are economically active in a free market, should give help to the developing economies of central and eastern Europe to improve the environment, which knows no geographical bounds.

Let me return to what I was saying a few moments ago. It is important that the new bank's articles of agreement are well understood. I quoted one of them and I should like to mention two others. The second is the one that refers to environmentally sound and sustainable development". The other refers to fostering

productive investment in related infrastructure where that is necessary to support private and entrepreneurial initiative". Only people who have travelled in central and eastern Europe and who know of the dearth of such infrastructure will fully understand that that is necessary before certain other developments can take place which will involve, and be wholly funded by, the private sector. That is why there is a need for a mix of private and public sector involvement in advancing the economies of central and eastern Europe.