Hammond warns banks need "careful management" to prevent further losses

Philip Hammond has attacked Labour’s handling of the financial sector after Lloyds Banking Group announced it lost £4bn in the first six months of 2009.

The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury stressed the scale of the losses showed the Government’s strategy was “in chaos”.

And he warned, “The banking sector and the taxpayer stakes in it need very careful management if we're not to see further huge losses hitting the taxpayer and bouncing back in the form of higher taxes for ordinary families.”

Philip also called on the Government to take action to prevent a return to the big bonus culture in banks:

"The lesson here has to be we don't brush this under the carpet, we don't allow this history to repeat itself as things appear to be improving, we don't allow these bonuses that are not aligned with long term performance to be paid."