No taxpayers' representatives on banks' boards

THE taxpayer will not have representatives directly on the boards of banks getting £37 billion of public funds, it emerged today.

The revelation appears to contradict assurances from Chancellor Alistair Darling.

The two economic experts appointed to oversee the taxpayer's cash injection into Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS today gave more details of how they aim to protect this public money.

Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of J Sainsbury, and John Kingman, a senior Treasury official, said in a letter to the Financial Times: "We must operate on a commercial basis at arm's length...our job [is] to manage the taxpayer's investments, not to manage the banks."

Mr Darling had said the taxpayer would be given "appropriate representation" on the boards of RBS and the merged Lloyds TSB/HBOS.