In a statement circulated to local media, Elisabeth Wilson, Lib Dem candidate for Halifax, has described the action Alistair Darling proposes in relation to banks as “puny”.
“It has taken till now for the Labour Chancellor to take some action on bank lending to small businesses by the partially nationalised banks. Has he been asleep? As with the bank bonuses given to highly paid people who helped create the banking crisis, the Labour government is out of step with what ordinary people and businesses experience.
“The chancellor’s solution to small and medium companies who are refused credit by the banks – another quango!”
Elisabeth also criticised the Labour Government failure to do something about the problem of bank size, and the mixing up of ‘casino’ and high street banking in the same bank.
“Vince Cable has said frequently that taxpayers should not underwrite high risk casino banking that provides little benefit to the taxpayers” she added. “Smaller regionally based banks would have the interests of local businesses and the local community at heart.”