Speaking at the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today, the business secretary introduced plans to set up a British Business Bank, which would offer up to £10bn of finance to small businesses.
“Our leading banks are often anti-business, especially anti-small business,” he said. “They threw traditional relationship banking over the side and sold useless insurance and dodgy derivatives instead.
“Public anger at the greed and stupidity in this industry will continue for a long time. But I am looking forward to – and I want to work with – the new generation of sensible bankers to support the real economy.”
Cable also explained to delegates why the Liberal Democrats, partners in the coalition, were standing behind the government’s decision to cut the 50p top rate income tax to 45p, rather than going down the route pursued in France, where President Francois Hollande is introducing a 75% tax on incomes over €1m.
“I know some of you hanker after a Hollande-style assault on top incomes. But we know that very high marginal rates of income tax are counter-productive,” he said.
“If I were advising Monsieur Hollande, I would recommend a ‘chateau tax’ – for those of us who never even managed a dumbed-down GCSE in French, that means a ‘mansion tax’; a core Lib Dem policy.
“A first step to the proper taxation of wealth and land. It horrifies the Tory backwoodsmen but it is popular and right. The super-rich can’t move their chateaux to Monaco or Switzerland so let’s get on with it and tax them here.”
In his speech, Cable also called for an “aggressive programme of house building” by housing associations and local councils, with an extra 100,000 needed a year to meet demand, and he concluded with a plea to the electorate not to turn its back on the party.
“If Britain wants sustainable growth, competence with compassion, fairness with freedom and more equality not ever greater division: then that government must have Liberal Democrats at its heart.”
