Warning over 'real' anger at banks in Britain

Some of Britain's top banks are warning they will move abroad unless a less “hostile” successor to Sir Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, is appointed when his term ends next year, it was reported.

Sir Mervyn told The Times that Britain's banks are in denial about public anger over their behaviour.

And he hit out at them for insisting everyone needed to live with “market disciplines” until the financial crisis hit when they asked for bail outs.

“Market discipline can't apply to everyone except banks,” he told the newspaper, adding people's anger was “very real and wholly understandable”.

Of the banks' attacks on him for failing to provide more support during the crisis, he said: “I think it is because they found it very, very difficult to face up to their failure of their banking model.”

He added: “That model needs to be restructured. My duty was to the United Kingdom economy as a whole and not just to one part of it.”