Payback time

MORE than two decades after the phrase "I want my money back" entered the political lexicon, its relevance shows no sign of abating. In 2010, however, its greatest relevance has been in dealing with Britain's dysfunctional banks, rather than Europe.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Mar 2010, 20:06 BST

Updated 19th Mar 2010, 20:06 BST

Yesterday taxpayers had their hopes raised that they might one day get back the billions coughed up to save Lloyds Banking Group and Bradford & Bingley's mortgage book.

Although Lloyds predicted a return to profit this year, after recording lower than expected bad debts, there is still a long way to go.

The bank, which took over HBOS at the height of the financial crisis, will take years to cleanse its loan book of the overpriced commercial property investments it took on during the boom. Similarly, B&B, which cut annual losses by nearly a third, has regained some kind of

stability on the way to being run down.

A political consensus on how to prevent a repeat of such banking collapses has, however, remained elusive. Until this has been achieved, and until the financial services sector has been fully reformed, there will be a risk that taxpayers won't get their rebate.