The CBI has called for the Government’s Green Investment Bank to deliver certainty to investors.

Speaking in London alongside Nick Clegg, as the Deputy Prime Minister announced the GIB plans, John Cridland the Director General of the CBI said the new bank “must have teeth” if it plans to deliver Britain with a new infrastructure.

Mr Cridland added: “I want it delivering growth – large-scale, mainstream economic growth. I want it delivering the low-carbon infrastructure, leveraging the £450bn we need by 2025, that’ll bring jobs and opportunities to the UK.”

Mr Cridland warned that the Bank “certainly won’t work if it needs the Treasury’s permission to blow its nose: “The bank needs to be able to get into the markets itself and do what it’s intended to do. And it won’t give investors certainty if it’s not enshrined in law so I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s decision on that.”

Yesterday Business Secretary Vince Cable re-emphasised that the GIB “will operate independently and at arm’s length from Government” after its long term priorities are agreed.