 Vince Cable turned his comedy fire on Gordon Brown |
It is angry about a passage in the Lib Dem treasury spokesman's speech to the party's spring conference in Liverpool.
Mr Cable said High Street banks "had become the financial equivalent of a Wetherspoons pub - but with even less of a sense of social responsibility".
The pub firm said this was "ridiculous" adding: "Perhaps he has been barred from a Wetherspoons pub."
Mr Cable was using the pub chain to illustrate a point about the alleged reckless lending policy of some banks.
"Just as binge drinking has become one of Britain's main recreational activities, binge lending has now become a mainstay of the economy," Mr Cable told delegates.
Funny
But Wetherspoons, which is one of the UK's biggest pub chains, insisted it took its social responsibilities seriously.
"As far we are concerned his statement is absolutely ridiculous. Wetherspoons is a good example of responsible pub operator.
"It has won more plaudits from local councils and police authorities for the manner in which it runs its pubs than probably any other pub chain in the UK.
"I don't know why he picked on us. Perhaps he has been barred from a Wetherspoons pub."
Mr Cable has developed a reputation for funny speeches and put-downs in recent months.
He reduced MPs to hysterics when he said Gordon Brown had "gone from Stalin to Mr Bean", when he was standing in as Lib Dem leader following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell.
And his speech to the Lib Dem Spring Conference in Liverpool was filled with more one-liners.
'Bully to bumbler'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7285053.stm
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