Williams: Getting your share of the banks: giving the banks back to the People (Twickenham & Richmond Liberal Democrats)

Williams: Getting your share of the banks: giving the banks back to the People

March 8, 2011 9:31 AM

williams bank • [Mar 08] THE 2008 financial crisis led to the government taking substantial shareholdings in the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. The time will soon come for the state to divest itself of these shareholdings. In the CentreForum report 'Getting your share of the banks: giving the banks back to the people' Stephen Williams* MP, co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Treasury Parliamentary Committee, proposes a new model of privatisation. His proposal would maximise the likelihood of recouping the entirety of the government's investment whilst distributing shares to the British public, showing that capitalism can be both popular and fair. He writes:

' . . This pamphlet focuses on the narrow but significant issue of what to do with the nation's shareholdings in two of the world's largest banks. We are the effective owners of Royal Bank of Scotland and the Lloyds Banking Group. Our taxes bailed out the banks and our government now owns two of them in our name. The time will soon come for the state to divest itself of these enormous shareholdings. In my lifetime I've seen many state sell offs and privatisations. In my professional career I even worked on some of them!

An opportunity now arises for the coalition government to try a new model of privatisation. HM Treasury needs to recover the approximately £66 billion it spent bailing out the two banks. There is a general feeling in the country that we need to get something positive in return for the bail out. This pamphlet puts forward an idea for giving us all a stake in the banks, for HM Treasury to clear its debt and just maybe for an increase in confidence that capitalism can be popular and fair . . '

* Stephen Williams was elected as Member of Parliament for Bristol West in 2005. He was appointed the chairman of the Liberal Democrat backbench committee for Treasury matters in 2010. He qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser and, before becoming an MP , he worked for several large firms including PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton.

• Williams: Getting your share of the banks: giving the banks back to the People [Centre Forum Mar 08]

• About Centre Forum

• The Independent View: How the Stephen Williams plans for the banks would work [Toby Fenwick Lib Dem Voice Mar 11]