Contributions to the debate have highlighted the differences of opinion on this subject. My hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, West (Mr. Butterfill), who moved the amendment, believes that protection for converted building societies is a key issue. I think that the hon. Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien) was somewhat confused in his remarks. The amendments do nothing for mutual societies: they are about the degree of protection that a converted society may have. The hon. Member for Christchurch (Mrs. Maddock) sought more information, and my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. French) agreed with me about the matter.

At issue is the amount of protection that a converted society has, or needs, once it becomes a new bank. The consultation process produced the universal view that no protection should be necessary. In fact, we have chosen the middle course: if a converted building society requires time to stabilise once it becomes a new bank and needs to make the sort of changes to which my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, West referred regarding 75 per cent. of its lending being on residential property, it has five protected years in which to do so. It loses that protection only if it goes on the acquisition trail.

Both banks and insurers—not just the mutual building society sector or the mutual sector—have expressed concern to us that such protection should not exist. My hon. Friend is a well-known business man who has operated in various fields. If, as a business man, his company was the subject of a hostile takeover bid and he was unable to defend it because the predator company had protection, I think that he would be justifiably angry. Parliament should not confer unfair protection on a particular sector of the financial services industry. It is true that widespread concern has been expressed, and that we have given the converters a concession in another way by allowing the removal of what is known as the priority liquidation distribution rights, which has benefited them to the tune of tens of millions of pounds. We have taken with one hand, and given with the other.

I should like to dispel three illusions that were created in the debate. The first is that converting societies are small institutions. They are not. The Woolwich and the Alliance and Leicester are of comparable size to the Royal Bank of Scotland and rather larger than that well-known insurer, the Guardian Royal Exchange. They are substantial organisations operating in a vibrant, thriving financial market.

Secondly, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, West and others said that converted building societies would not wish to acquire mortgage books and so forth. Yet that is precisely what has occurred. Some of the societies that are remaining mutual are making acquisitions in order to expand their activities as mutual societies.

My final point relates to the comments of the hon. Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien), who said that he has some sympathy with concerns expressed in this area because I suddenly announced the Government's intention to change the five-year rule. Consultation in this area has been going on for some time, and organisations such as the Building Societies Association were concerned that protection should remain. I am informed that the Alliance and Leicester, which has raised hon. Members' awareness in this area, was represented at a meeting of the BSA council in June, when the association's response to our consultation was discussed and finalised. That response called for the removal of five-year protection. We are not talking about something new that represents a sudden change. Instead, we are talking about ensuring fairness in the mutual sector and in the banking sector, be it the new banks, the insurers or the traditional banks. On that basis, I ask the Committee to reject the amendments.