I wonder whether the Minister will respond to that point with caution, because it seems an example of what may be characterised as the Devizes defence, in which offenders or their relatives point to someone else, and say that he or she has committed a bigger offence. When taxed with the iniquities of his relatives, the hon. Member for Beaconsfield attempted a diversion by offering to give up the right hon. Member for Devizes, saying that he was a bigger offender. That is reminiscent of the defence along the lines of ``a big boy did it and then ran away''—a defence that many of us have heard in the past.

Although we might have sympathy for people who are bankrupted in such circumstances, am I right in thinking that that would have an adverse effect on small traders only if all the assets of the criminal involved were seized? Is that likely to happen frequently? If such a measure is introduced, what steps would the Government or the courts take to avoid the creation of fraudulent debts? It is possible that a set of villains who knew that they were under suspicion would create a web or a network of interlocking debts between themselves for services rendered—or not rendered—in an effort to decrease the amount of money that they had available?