EDITOR'S TAKE: Like it or not, Vince Cable speaks for much of the British public

Vince Cable knows how to work a crowd. In his speech today he elicited fond chuckles and hearty applause and got the blood pumping with a nice little reference to the banking 'spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies.'

None of this is particularly palatable. The British Bankers Association has been strangely silent, but the CBI has been quick to accuse Cable's speech (and by extension Cable himself) of being 'odd and emotional', and a 'rabble rouser.'

Both are true. But this does not make it wise to dismiss the sentiments expressed by Cable, or their warm reception by the Liberal Democrat Conference and the public at large.

The City of London is the whipping boy for the financial crisis, and it will be whipped harder once government spending cuts - allegedly the most ferocious since the 1920s take effect.

In other circumstances, it might only be those at the bottom of the social pile who would direct their vituperation against bankers. In current circumstances, it includes large swathes of the civil service, anyone with an unaffordable mortgage, and anyone looking for a butt of jokes. In July, for example, Sunday Times editor Matt Rudd tweeted: "A fat jogger just ran past, then fainted. I was going to help until I noticed he was wearing a Goldman Sachs TShirt." Even journalists for moderately right wing publications are not on the City's side.

The upshot is that the British banking industry needs to be very careful how it manages public perception. This year's bonuses, coming after public spending cuts have been announced, but before they take effect, could stoke resentment dangerously. Boris Johnson seems aware of this, and the City is somehow aware of it too - hence the appointment of Chris Cummings as its chief defender.

However, Cummings' appointment looks like too little too late. He's been mysteriously absent from the retaliation against Cable's speech, leaving the likes of the Telegraph to highlight the tax contribution of the City and Adair Turner to belatedly downplay the virtues of banker-bashing. Neither carry much weight against the rhetoric of Cable.

If Cable et al are to be deprived of the chance to stir sentiment further in the months to come, banks need to pre-emptively remove themselves from the firing line. This will mean being very, very careful with regards to bonus levels for 2010. History suggests that a rabble, once roused, can be hard to placate.