Britain’s banks discriminate against members of ethnic minorities in the way they distribute loans and set interest rates. This is the accusation flung by the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who, delivering the Scarman memorial lecture, argued banks are holding black people back from breaking “the last frontier” of racial economic equality. A thesis supported by the figures, since, according to him, firms held by individuals of black African background are four times more likely than so called white firms to be denied loans. Furthermore, he said, that 35% of individuals from black African origin say they want to start a business, but only 6% actually do. It is for this reason that Clegg has decided to challenge Britain’s banks to show they are meeting their responsibility to black people and will set up an inquiry into their practices.
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