Cameron calls for reform of banking regulations

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Tory leader says he will work with the government to find a solution to financial crisis, but insists there should be 'no blank cheques'

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Cameron calls for reform of banking regulations

Tory leader says he will work with the government to find a solution to financial crisis, but insists there should be 'no blank cheques'

• Deborah Summers, politics editor
• guardian.co.uk,
• Sunday September 28 2008 10:09 BST
• Article history

David Cameron today called for a shake-up of banking regulation as he insisted taxpayers should not foot the bill for failing institutions.
On the first day of the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, the Tory leader said he would work with the government to find a solution to the latest financial crisis – this time involving the nationalisation of Bradford and Bingley – but he insisted there should be "no blank cheques".
"What matters most of all is safeguarding the depositors in Bradford and Bingley," Cameron said. "But we have got to get away from the idea that the taxpayer should shoulder all of the risk…"
Asked by the BBC's Andrew Marr show whether he would work with the government to sort out the financial crisis, Cameron said: "If things have to be done we will look at it as a responsible opposition."
But he added: "I'm not signing any blank cheque for what needs to be done.
"We have got to get away from situation where it's either nationalisation or saying 'well, there is nothing we can do'".
Condemning the government for not acting sooner, Cameron said: "The government has had a year to pass this legislation. What have these people been doing? This is the eighth biggest bank in Britain.
"The key is if at the end of that process there is a bill to be paid, it will be paid by the creditors and not the taxpayer."
Calling for a Bank of England-led plan for the reconstruction of Bradford and Bingley, Cameron said taxpayers, already facing large increases in mortgage, food and fuel bills, should not be made to foot the bill.
"The key is if at the end of that process [with the Bradford and Bingley] there is a bill to be paid, it will be paid by the creditors and not the taxpayer," he said.
Quizzed about polls showing Labour narrowing the gap on the Tories, Cameron admitted his party had not yet "sealed the deal" with the British public.
But he insisted that the Conservatives were now in a position to be taken seriously as an alternative to the Labour government.
A Guardian/ICM poll published yesterday put the Conservatives on 41%, down three points from last month. Labour is up three on 32% with the Liberal Democrats on 18%.
Based on those figures, the Conservatives would struggle to win an overall majority at an immediate general election.
The poll - the first to be carried out after the end of the Labour conference and the resignation of Ruth Kelly - suggests that voters may be returning to Labour amid fears of a worldwide economic crash.
Cameron said: "We can [win], we are there, we are strong. People who say they haven't sealed the deal, they are right, we haven't but we can and we will."
Defending his description of Britain as a "broken society" Cameron said he was dedicated to making the necessary changes to improve the lives of the British people.
"It is completely misleading if politicians just try to gloss over the fact that we do have some real problems," he said.
Asked whether a Conservative government would cut taxes, Cameron said: "If we hold down government spending across an economic cycle then I believe we will be able to reduce people's taxes.
The Tory chief hailed proposals, unveiled in the Sunday Times today, to create 5,000 new independently-run schools funded by the taxpayer, under Conservative plans to revolutionise the way children are taught.