Overview: How the main political parties plan to kick-start growth

Cable wants a modern version of the US’s Glass-Steagall Act, which would reverse the platform for the past few years of gains in the sector and separate retail from investment banking. “Until the banks are broken up and are able to compete or fail without UK government guarantees, they should pay an insurance premium ­ a supplementary tax on bank profits,” he says.

What do FDs want?
Ask finance directors what they’d like to see a new government do after the election and they’re likely to be far more forthright than the politicians.

Mike Holt, group FD at VP plc, an equipment rental company listed on the London Stock Exchange, wants “decisive action” to tackle mounting public debt. “I think there are some fairly unpleasant decisions that need to be taken at government level when it comes to deciding where to spend the public purse.”

Politicians may dance delicately around the question of budget cuts but Holt isn’t afraid to jump in with both feet, citing the growing burden of public sector pensions as an area that’s ripe for the axe.

“There is an increasing disparity between wage inflation and post-retirement benefits within the public sector as opposed to the private sector,” he says.

Richard Mann, chief operating officer at £68m-turnover Mobile Interactive Group ­ who includes the FD’s responsibilities in his portfolio ­ is another who wants to see brave decisions on public sector spending. “I believe there should be significant spending cuts,” he says. He cites the Republic of Ireland’s willingness to cut hard and cut deep.

“I think there has to be an increase in the tax burden as well ­ and I think everyone has to participate in that. We have to get through the next couple of years. There may be a risk of a double-dip recession, but I think it’s the lesser of two evils.”

Both agree that they’d like to see a government with a mandate to take tough decisions. “The concern I have is that a hung parliament would be the worst result,” says Holt. “I don’t think that if people are having to work through a coalition they will be prepared to be as bold as they need to be.”

Mann adds, “My personal view is that we need a government with a very strong mandate to take some brave decisions to give us a solid foundation ­ so that UK plc knows where it is and how we are going forward with some degree of certainty.”

Difference of opinions
But there’s a difference of view on the need for measures to get the banks lending again to business and consumers. Holt believes that banks have failed to differentiate between solid corporates with good governance, and everyone else. “I think the banks have got to go back to fundamentals and demonstrate they’ve got proper risk management policies in place ­ and that they’re adhering to the policies.”

But Mann warns that the business world can’t have it both ways. “We can’t want the financial sector to take less risks and at the same time insist that they lend money and open up the debt market.”

But he agrees with Holt on one point: “Managed risk has to be a fundamental part of the financial sector.”

And the touchy topic of bonuses? For the FD, it’s not quite the witch-hunt it has been from the FD’s perspective (remembering, of course, that they might be in for their own juicy bonus packages).

“At the end of the day, I think that a banking sector without bonuses would be very unhealthy and result in a brain drain,” argues Holt.

Mann sees the issue as getting the right balance between cash bonuses that give an incentive for quick wins and longer-term benefits packages that are more likely to align the interests of employees with those of shareholders and other stakeholders.