Reform the banks - NOW

Our banks are still playing the same old game. They need a solid kick up the pants to change their ways.

Between 1997 and 2009, almost a third of lending was between banks. Half went to individuals, mainly on mortgages that fuelled the housing bubble; manufacturing received just 3% of the pie; other business loans accounted for only 17%. Since the crash, net lending to business has fallen by £40bn.

To summarise

1. 1/3rd of lending is bank-to-bank to cover gambling positions

2. 1/2 is loans to individuals (mortgages, credit cards)

3. Manufacturing gets just 3% of bank loans. No wonder they are screaming for help

4. Business loans are another 17%, but lending to business has fallen £40bn. So our only salvation, manufacturing and profitable business is ignored by the greedy, casino, banks

Tax?

Neither can the finance sector credibly claim to be the major source of tax revenue in the UK. It contributed just 6.8% of tax revenues between 2002 and 2008, just over half the amount paid by manufacturers; the reason traditional industry generates more is because it is labour-intensive.

Using Bank of England figures, it is reckoned it could take the finance sector 25 years to repay the £1 trillion costs of bailing it out. Bring it on, NOW.

Radical restructuring is needed to separate their genuine utility functions need from their gambling activities.