Bankers need to serve society, says Ed Miliband

ED MILIBAND has warned bankers that they must wave goodbye to their culture of “excessive” bonuses and reconnect with the rest of the country.

In a speech in London’s Canary Wharf financial district yesterday, the Labour leader urged a return to “one-nation banking” which would serve the wider economy and society.

Mr Miliband told the bankers in his audience that they needed to reflect “the values of Britain”.

He said: “We cannot have a banking sector so divorced from the rest of the economy and the rest of society. We succeed or fail together. It is not about the politics of envy, it is about a culture of responsibility.

“We need what you might call ‘one-nation banking’. We need banks that serve the real economy. We need banking serving every region, every sector, every business, every family in this country. And we need banks run in a way that people believe are consistent with their values – the values of Britain.”

He added: “Responsibility means ending the culture of excessive bonuses.”

Mr Miliband warned of a return to “two nations”, the description of 19th-century Britain used by Conservative PM Benjamin Disraeli.

The banking and financial sector was on a path of “gradual separation from the rest of society”, he said.