Unions call for action over banking

The TUC will press for a series of changes at its annual congress next week, including a state investment bank, greater diversity in the banking system and a crackdown on bonuses.

The union organisation will also press the case for worker representation on company remuneration committees.

The TUC General Council will issue a statement at the Brighton conference saying that the Government’s Green Investment Bank should be made into a “proper bank”, with the ability to raise its own funds.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Banks caused the crash. Their problems are still driving the eurozone crisis. They are still failing to provide the finance that Britain’s productive sectors need. Yet the Government is still tiptoeing round reform.”

It was not just unions backing a radical shake-up in banking, saidMr Barber.

The TUC said it believed there were three major issues on banking that needed tackling – financial stability, excessive pay and how banks could support the “real economy”.