This a very important week for the Secretary of State for Business and Innovation, Vince Cable. writes John Hipwood.It starts with a meeting today with the modern day Scrooges of our society  — Britain’s top banker —  and ends with his appearance on the Christmas Day Strictly Come Dancing.

Mr Cable and his party leader, Nick Clegg, have been talking tough about the barmy bonuses many bankers are expected to receive in the new year.

But can the Business Secretary persuade the bank bosses, whose very institutions were saved from bankruptcy by UK taxpayers just a few months ago, to dance to his tune?

Back in May, the Liberal Democrat coalition negotiators insisted that curbing bonuses should be one of the Government’s top priorities, and this policy became one of the first items to be written into the Coalition Agreement.

In September, Ed Balls and Boris Johnson warned about the Christmas “train crash” of bankers’ bonuses.

That train crash is only a matter of days or weeks away, and may only be averted if Mr Cable and Chancellor George Osborne manage to switch the signal to red at today’s meeting in Whitehall.

The Business Secretary points out that the Government has already introduced some measures such as an annual banking levy, and he warns that more taxation could be around the corner if the banks don’t curb the bonus excesses.

“If they don’t behave, if they don’t take account of their wider responsibilities, the Government has, as a possibility, some form of taxation.

“There are various ways of doing this,” Mr Cable said yesterday, without spelling out what form these taxes might take.

Then he added, in a sense of hope rather than expectation: “But we would rather they accept that they have wider obligations to British business and to the public.”

They had already taken some initiatives, he said, before continuing: “They do understand that something has to happen. We cannot go through the winter bonus season without real restraint and social responsibility.”

Fine words, but you just get the feeling that David Cameron and Mr Osborne are keen not to upset the banking sector too much, knowing as they do that it provides the Exchequer with more than 10 per cent of its tax revenue.

******

Just for a brief interlude, we shall see Mr Cable put aside his ministerial duties on Saturday when he becomes the Fred Astaire of British politics.

Unlike Ann Widdecombe, he is actually good at it, and has rubbished stories in yesterday’s papers that Nick Clegg had frowned on his appearance on Strictly at such a time of economic austerity.

That doesn’t sound like the Deputy Prime Minister to me, and anyway Mr Cable rightly points out that he works more-or-less an 80-hour week and that all work and no play would make Vince a very dull boy.

******

Someone else who puts in a long day is shadow foreign minister John Spellar, who knows what it’s like to get up in the dark. As one of the earliest rising MPs, he’s usually at his desk by around 6.30am so at this time of the year, with daylight at its shortest this week, he goes to work in the dark and goes home in the dark.

But he’s not sure whether Parliament should legislate to change the timing of those precious hours of daylight, so he’s going to ask the audience.

The Warley MP  is consulting his constituents on whether they prefer lighter mornings or lighter evenings. Unfortunately, he points out, you can’t have both. A backbench Bill which aims to put the clocks one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time in winter and two hours ahead in summer has passed its first hurdle in the Commons.

Mr Spellar, whose views on public issues are normally clear-cut, is genuinely torn on this particular one.

“I have an open mind and would like to hear what the people of Sandwell and the West Midlands think,” he said. “Unfortunately, we cannot actually manufacture any more daylight,” he added.

Anyone who wants to shed light on the issue should email Mr Spellar at johnspellar@btinternet.com

******

And the winner is: Nick Clegg. At least in respect of the Christmas cards sent out by the main party leaders this year.

David Cameron and Ed Miliband chose family pictures  the Camerons with their baby daughter, Florence, outside 10 Downing Street (where were the other children?), and Mr Miliband in a rather wooden pose with partner Justine and sons Daniel and new arrival Samuel.

The Camerons chose “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” as their message while the Miliband choice was the bland let’s-not-upset-anybody “Season’s Greetings”.

“Happy Christmas from the Clegg family” was the greeting on a card drawn by Nick and Miriam’s elder sons, which depicts mum and dad, Antonio with a football, Alberto with a wooden train set and newcomer Miguel with a baby bottle.

Daddy Clegg is wielding a mobile phone. Let’s hope he turns it off on Christmas Day.