Liberal Democrats urge Prime Minister to come clean on Northern Rock loan

5.05.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 14th Nov 2007

Acting Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable has called on the prime minister to confirm how much money the government has lent to the troubled Northern Rock bank. Following his receipt of a letter from the Chancellor in which he refused to disclose details of the growing loan to the bank, the acting Liberal Democrat leader raised the issue at prime minister's questions. Dr Cable asked Gordon Brown to confirm that lending to the bank had topped £24bn and also pointed out that this amounted to double the annual public spending on primary schools. In response to questioning the PM failed to give an assurance that the money would be paid back in full with interest by the end of this Parliament.

Vince Cable said "It is simply unacceptable for the Chancellor to cover up the sheer scale of payments being made to Northern Rock when it can offer no guarantee that this money will ever be repaid. If banks are to have the benefit of the British public acting as a lender of last resort they must put an end to unsustainable lending practices. When things do go wrong, the boards and management must be held responsible."