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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/pm-insists-he-cannot-hammer-banks.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Prime Minister David Cameron answers questions from workers at the Greggs HQ during a visit to Newcastle" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-pm-insists-he-cannot-hammer-banks.jpg" alt="Prime Minister David Cameron answers questions from workers at the Greggs HQ during a visit to Newcastle"/></a></p>
<p>David Cameron has insisted he can not &#8220;hammer&#8221; the banks over their bonuses because he needs them to lend more to business and pay higher taxes to reduce the deficit.</p>
<p>The Prime Minister said there was part of him that wanted to &#8220;go after every penny&#8221; and &#8220;tax these bonuses to hell&#8221; &#8211; but added that the Government had to strike a balance.</p>
<p>The coalition has come under fire for failing to rein in City excess ahead of what is expected to be a bumper bonus season worth £7 billion.</p>
<p>Mr Cameron said it was right to have &#8220;a big argument&#8221; with the banks given that they were bailed out by the taxpayer at the height of the financial crisis. But, speaking during a question and answer session with voters in Newcastle, he maintained that getting the balance right was &#8220;not easy&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s part of me, like probably everyone in this room, that just thinks &#8216;right, let&#8217;s just go after every penny we can get out of these banks, let&#8217;s tax these bonuses to hell, let&#8217;s just get hold of the cash&#8217;. That would look good for a few weeks, maybe a few months, but actually what do we really want to do here?</p>
<p>&#8220;We want a growing economy that is creating jobs, and that means banks that are lending money to businesses.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Treasury is in talks with banks about ensuring bonuses are smaller and more transparent and that lending is stepped up. Chancellor George Osborne insisted earlier this week that &#8220;nothing is off the table&#8221; if they did not come to an acceptable settlement.</p>
<p>However, there have been reports that even the heads of state-backed Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland are in line for multimillion-pound payouts.</p>
<p>Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond &#8211; said to be getting an £8 million windfall &#8211; fanned the flames by saying that neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Osborne had asked him to limit his bonus. He told MPs that the time for &#8220;remorse&#8221; was over.</p>
<p>Liberal Democrats have been angered that the Government has not taken a stronger line. Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott said: &#8220;This is the moment of truth on fairness for our coalition. We can&#8217;t allow a bonus bonanza in the age of austerity.&#8221;</p>
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