Comment: Labour is now the party of pragmatists
Britain needs a diversified economy — Tory opposition to it is purely ideological
financial services
Tailor-made financial services: the answer to the UK’s debt problem?
We need a real alternative to predatory high street lenders
Lib Dem, Tory and Labour all in this together on financial regulation
Following Ed Balls’ appointment, the two coalition parties have been quick to point to Labour’s regulatory failures. But the consensus on light touch regulation came from all three parties.
Now the coalition wants to cut its meagre bank levy
So much remains in doubt on bonuses. But what we know for sure is that the Treasury’s entire bank levy revenue estimates between 2011-2014 were made when bonus payments were anticipated to be higher than they had been in 2008. And the idea that the banks should be offered another sop when they should be paying for the mess they created simply demonstrates where this conservative coalition’s priorities lie.
Coalition gives up on tackling bankers’ bonuses as 2010 total set to hit £7bn
It’s hardly a surprise, but the coalition has decided that it has done as much as it intends to tackle excessive bankers’ bonuses, even at a time when small businesses continue to suffer as banks refuse to lend. Most banks will not pay out their bonuses for 2010 until February 2011 but the Treasury minister Lord Sassoon’s declaration in the House of Lords this week indicates the government is satisfied that its ‘work’ on City bonuses is complete.
New financial regulations will harm households and small businesses
The financial sector breathed a sigh of relief this week as the Basel Committee’s recommendations for new rules on banking regulations were announced; stock markets around the world rallied. Rules on the amount of capital banks must hold to cover risk – and the extent to which reserves must be liquid – are less stringent than expected.