Cleggy gets tough on the bankers

[craig1]

200 new tax investigators though to target those not wealthy enough to afford expensive lawyers or large donations to the Tory party

[thunderlizard]

& cleverly abstaining from a definition of "unacceptable". Except that he's stuck his finger in the wind and decided that £9000 is the going rate for a year in university fees, so can we take it £9000 is the acceptable figure for a year's banking bonus too?

[Alf W]

I bet they are quaking in their mink-lined boots.

Nick Clegg has issued a fresh warning to banks over excessive bonuses and the need to boost lending to small firms.

The deputy prime minister told the Financial Times that the government would not "stand idly by" if bonuses paid early next year were unacceptable.

Banks must show "visible restraint" and "sensitivity" to the economic climate.

Mr Clegg, Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne and Business Secretary Vince Cable discussed the issue at a meeting earlier this week.

The BBC's Chief Political Correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said a one-off tax on bank bonuses, similar to that introduced by Labour in 2009, remained an option if banks were not seen to moderate their behaviour and give more concrete guarantees on loans to small firms and start-ups.

Neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Osborne are believed to be overly keen on the idea, believing that banks have been targeted enough.