“Another political victory for Vince Cable” as short-selling of bank stocks banned

From the Financial Times, praise for Vince Cable work on financial reform:

The ban on short-selling bank stocks marks another political victory for Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, who has proved a prescient forecaster of financial doom.

Mr Cable’s lacerating attacks this week on hedge funds “hunting in packs” to drive down bank shares appeared in tune with a populist backlash against the “short-selling spivs” deemed responsible for forcing HBOS into a takeover…

Before the ban was announced George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, defended short-selling as a “symptom” not a cause of the problems. The Tories last night said they welcomed “any short-term action that will bring stability to the markets and allow a period for calm reflection”.

The development has left the [Conservative] opposition party on the backfoot … [their] defence of market forces appeared out of tune with public sentiment, as well as regulatory thinking.

As Vince Cable said previously:

The hedge funds are betting against the taxpayer, since they know that if a leading British bank were to collapse, the government would have no alternative but to intervene.