No day for triumph, says Cameron

David Cameron said it was not a day for celebration

Tory leader David Cameron has said he supports the government's £37bn package to help struggling banks but warned that it was "not a day for triumph".

Visiting Halifax, in West Yorkshire, he said the plan was "necessary but expensive", blaming a "decade of too much borrowing".

"We are saving the banking system not just for its own sake but for the entire economy's," Mr Cameron said.

Earlier, Gordon Brown said the plan could provide a "rock of stability".

'Paying the bills'

Mr Cameron was visiting West Yorkshire to meet bosses and staff at Halifax bank, part of HBOS - one of the companies receiving government money in return for shares.

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He said: "This is a necessary but painful. It needs to be done but it's expensive.

"In some ways it's paying the bills for the last 10 years of excessive debt.... the government has borrowed too much and set a bad example."

The Treasury is to inject up to £37bn of new capital into Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS.

Earlier, the prime minister said people could not be left to be "buffeted about" and that should provide a "lifeline" during economic turbulence.

It was not "standard public ownership" and the banks would return to private investors "at the right time", he said.