Despite calling for the dossier to be made public as a backbencher, Mr Cable has denied a Freedom of Information (FOI) request made by the Lloyds shareholder action group. In the reply to the request, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, a Department of Business, Innovation and Skills official said the dossier would not be published as "these papers originated during the previous administration".

The letter continued: "They [the papers] fall under the convention that such papers are not given to incumbent ministers and special advisers from a political party of a different complexion." As such Mr Cable, a Liberal Democrat who is a leading figure in the coalition Government, has not been given sight of the papers, nor is he willing to change protocol to release them. The original FOI request was made in March by Nicholas Shaw, chairman of Lloyds Action Now (LAN), who asked for the dossier submitted to Lord Mandelson, Mr Cable's predecessor as Business Secretary, to be published in order to assist th.....Read more on this story---> Coalition refuses to open HBOS dossier