High Peak Liberal Democrats

Commenting on the Coalition Government's announcement that it will accept the recommendations of the Vickers report into banking, including separating retail and casino banking, Co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Treasury Committee, Stephen Williams said:

"The Coalition has done the right thing and acted swiftly and decisively to give the banks tougher regulation and the consumer more power.

"Vince Cable was the voice of reason when the financial crisis almost broke the country three years ago. Now, he and the Liberal Democrats have worked to put British banks on a sound footing and limit the risk to the taxpayer of any future banking problems.

"By the end of this Parliament the Coalition will have put in place more safeguards against financial failure and introduced greater competition and choice on the high street for bank customers.

"I have urged the Government to use our ownership of RBS to create a new bank that focuses on increasing lending to businesses to boost economic recovery."