Cameron attacks lack of scrutiny over HBOS

Published on Monday 16 March 2009 20:58

DAVID Cameron, the Conservative leader, yesterday said politicians and bankers failed to ask what impact the ill-fated take-over of HBOS would have on Lloyds.

And he called for Lloyds and ministers to be scrutinised over the process that led to the decision to merge the banks.

But Mr Cameron has previously given his backing to the deal, and said it would have been "opportunistic" to jump on a bandwagon with the SNP, calling for HBOS to stay independent.

Speaking in Westminster, he said: "With hindsight, the questions everyone should have been asking were just how bad is the situation with HBOS and what will be the effect on Lloyds?

"I can't remember anyone in political and banking circles being worried this would drag a perfectly good bank into de facto nationalisation."

The Tory leader said he had made the decision to back the deal "based on what we were being told by the government".

He added: "We need to know more about the process of due diligence that Lloyds went through and indeed what the government and Treasury ministers went through in recommending the scheme."

Mr Cameron reiterated his belief that "the wisdom of this politically inspired merger now looks like a bad deal".

While he has previously admitted regret over the deal, yesterday's remarks were his strongest condemnation yet.

The Conservatives have faced criticism that they have not been active enough in pulling apart Gordon Brown's economic strategy or offering an alternative. Mr Cameron also signalled moves to cut public spending, by pledging to freeze the BBC licence fee for a year. He declined to rule out future tax rises.

The Tory leader admitted progress on winning support in Scotland was "slower" than he would have liked, but insisted people were beginning to realise Alex Salmond was "not all he was cracked up to be".