Shares in British banks were broadly up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading, although Lloyds Banking Group saw its shares decline after a former Financial Services minister called on the bank to be broken up.

Paul Myners, who served in the government of Gordon Brown, said in the Financial Times today that Lloyds Banking Group and RBS were too large. Lloyds Banking Group was formed at the beginning of 2009 by a shotgun merger between Lloyds TSB and a near-bankrupt HBOS.

Myners said, "The future lies in less monolithic institutions, with more fluid entries into and out of the banking sector.

"In practice, the banking commision must therefore give proper consideration to splitting one or both of Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland."

By 11:40 shares in RBS were up 0.86 per cent to 42.05 pence per share, Barclays shares increased 0.97 per cent to 274.85 pence per share and HSBC shares climbed 1.02 per cent to 669.90 pence per share.

However Lloyds Banking Group saw its shares decline 0.07 per cent to 68.35 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was up 0.73 per cent to 5,855.54.

Barclays HSBC FTSE