 Queues formed at Northern Rock branches again on Monday |
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling should make a full statement on the Northern Rock banking crisis, Tory leader David Cameron has said. He said the "immediate priority must be to reassure people about the situation and the safety of their deposits".
Mr Cameron spoke out as worried savers continued to flock to Northern Rock branches to withdraw their savings.
He said he was not calling for a recall of Parliament, because "that would only add to a sense of alarm".
Instead, in a speech in central London, Mr Cameron said he was fully behind the actions of the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority to support Northern Rock.
'Credit crunch'
"The lines of savers queuing to withdraw their deposits from Northern Rock serve to remind us just how fragile the stability of the economy can be," he said.
"The credit crunch, previously restricted to the City, has burst on to our high streets ...
"If Parliament was sitting, the chancellor would make a full and comprehensive statement about both what has happened and the government's approach to these important issues.
"Clearly, it would be quite wrong for Parliament to be recalled, as that would only add to a sense of alarm.
"But it is incumbent on the chancellor to make such a statement and set out the government's view on these matters and I hope that he will take the opportunity to do so this week."
 |  This government has presided over a huge expansion of public and private debt without showing awareness of the risks involved |
Northern Rock boss Adam Applegarth said people could withdraw money and that it was "business as usual", while Mr Darling appealed for calm.
About �2bn has been withdrawn since Thursday, when the bank applied to the Bank of England for emergency funds.
Mr Cameron warned both borrowers and lenders to "act responsibly".
'Mountain of debt'
He said Mr Darling's recent remarks that banks needed to think carefully about their lending decisions came "after a decade of virtual silence about debt" from him and Gordon Brown, his predecessor at the Treasury.
"This government has presided over a huge expansion of public and private debt without showing awareness of the risks involved," Mr Cameron said.
"Under Labour our economic growth has been built on a mountain of debt.
"And as any family with debts knows, higher debt makes us more vulnerable to the unexpected."
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