Liberal Democratic Party: Obama has grasped the scale of the problem says Cable

“Labour has failed to take the bold measures needed to reform Britain’s banking sector," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor.

Commenting on President Obama’s new bank tax, Vince Cable said:

“If banks are going to continue to rely on taxpayer guarantees, then they should pay for it.

“Obama has grasped the scale of the problem with a tax estimated to return £55bn to the US taxpayer while Labour’s plan returns just 1% of that to the British taxpayer, with a tax that will do nothing to change the irresponsible practices which did so much to get us into this mess.

“Labour has failed to take the bold measures needed to reform Britain’s banking sector.

“That is why the Liberal Democrats want to see an additional 10% levy on bank profits. This would recognise the support that we as taxpayers provide them, until we manage to reach a point where we break up the banks that are too big to fail.”