Cameron and Osborne wary of Vickers’ banking reforms

Banking reform has always been one of those issues that was going to test the unity of the coalition. Indeed, it was the subject of the very first inter-coalition wrangle when back in May 2010 George Osborne and Vince Cable tussled over who would chair the Cabinet committee on banking reform.
 
To date, these differences have been held in check by the fact that the coalition is waiting for the recommendations of the John Vickers-led Independent Commission on Banking. But with the final draft of the Vickers Report being published on 12 September, these splits are starting to open up again.
 
Cable and the Liberal Democrats would like, at the very least, a strict ringfencing within banks of the investment and retails arms. They want these new rules imposed as quickly as possible and, as Cable made clear in The Times (£) today, are not inclined to brook any reason for delay.