Toby Blume,
Chief executive, Urban Forum
http://www.urbanforum.org.uk

The financial crisis led to an unprecedented global bailout of banks, amounting to £250bn in the UK (excluding guarantees and other finance totalling close to £1trillion). The vast sums spent have led directly to future cuts to public spending, affecting citizens throughout the UK. And yet, despite the direct impact of the bailout on people's everyday lives, the public have been given scant opportunity to influence financial service reform – which all Parties agree is necessary to avoid the mistakes of the past.
In order to influence the future of banking and to grasp the opportunity to shape the future in a positive way, a group of charities, social enterprises, community organisations and other civil society groups came together to establish the Better Banking Coalition. The Coalition's aims are simple; banking reform is too important to be left to the bankers and we must grasp the opportunity to shape the future in a positive way as we come out of recession.
People up and down the country are frustrated and angry over the handling of the banking crisis and yet have little opportunity to channel that dissatisfaction in a positive way. The Coalition is offering a solution to these problems – not just bashing the banks, but by advocating for a new settlement between banks, the State and citizens to achieve broader social, economic and environmental policy objectives.