Clegg attacks banks for stifling recovery

The criticism, made today during a live webcast, was in response to a viewer question about what the Government is doing to get the flow of credit moving again. The Government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme was supposed to make £1.3bn available, offering a 75% state guarantee to encourage banks to lend. But recent figures suggest lending to small businesses has continued to plummet, falling a further 20% over the last quarter. Clegg also called the bluff of banks which deny they are withholding credit. He highlighted many available loans are out of reach to those who need th...