Vince Cable: I'm a liberal free trader, not an anti-business socialist
Vince Cable today declared himself a "liberal free trader" and denied having a grudge against the City.
Setting out his stall as the new Business Secretary, he rejected claims that hewas an anti-big business socialist.
He also issued a gloomy warning over getting the economy back on track and stressed banks risked derailing the recovery by not lending.
In his first major speech since becoming a Cabinet minister, the Twickenham MP told business experts in London: "I believe in open markets." Hailing the Lib-Con coalition as "revolutionary", he said the market economy should be a route to social justice, spreading wealth around, as well as to economic efficiency.
The fierce critic of bankers' excesses and advocate of capital gains tax rises said the UK faced "deep-seated" problems including a "dysfunctional" banking system, adding that the banks now largely taxpayer-owned must lend more to small and medium-size firms.
Mr Cable is the most popular politician in Britain, according to a survey by PoliticsHome website.
