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Calls are growing for the government to impose regulation on London's financial institutions following the global financial turmoil of recent days.

Just three days after Lehman Brothers folded, commentators are noticing a marked change in the tone of the political debate surrounding the economy.

Yesterday, Alex Salmond broke cover to launch a broadside against the "bunch of short-selling spivs and speculators in the financial markets" forcing HBOS into a merger with Lloyds TSB.

"We should not have situations where well capitalised, properly funded financial institutions are subject to incredible speculative attack, and that drives them into decision making which they otherwise might not have done," he said.

"You have got to put the hems on that sort of activity, otherwise we will have a succession of companies going through the same process. All financial regulators have got to wake up to where we are at the present moment."

There was similar language coming from the Liberal Democrats yesterday, with Nick Clegg telling the party conference hall: "The free-wheeling, bonus-driven, short termism of the City must come to an end.

"We must stop the amoral culture that sees speculators betting on banks to fail, knowing the taxpayer will pay out in the end. And the madness of bonuses awarded no matter what. We need a wholly new approach to regulation: limiting, not encouraging, the excesses of the market.

"And when reckless bankers come with gold-plated begging bowls to ask for shareholders to be bailed out, our answer should be a resounding 'no'."

Speculators – always a sore point among critics of the free-market – are just the first group provoking the ire of political figures.

Attention is increasingly being directed towards the risky investments made by banks and pension funds.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) said it would welcome a major regulatory review of the way the City of London operates.

Adam Lent, its head of economics and social affairs, told politics.co.uk: "There's no doubt these practises in the City haven't been regulated in an effective way.

"The banks have got themselves into a position where what they're doing is so complex it's impossible for anyone to understand them."

Some commentators are concentrating on the need for a cultural, rather than a regulatory, shift in the City – especially in the behaviour of company owners and those controlling pension funds.

"Most pension funds simply don't engage with the companies they invest in," Mr Lent continued.

"They don't keep their eye on the risks they put their members' money into. They don't pay attention to the huge remunerations the executives get.

"The trustees have the power to say: 'What we want is long term, sustainable returns for our funds. We need better corporate governors, more transparent accounting and more respectable incentives and bonus schemes for people who work in these companies.'"

The world's financial institutions have undergone an unparalleled few days.

Barclays have agreed to buy up some Lehman Brothers assets after the investment bank filed for bankruptcy. The US Treasury rescued insurance company AIG with a $85 billion package. The Bank of America has bought Merrill Lynch for $50 billion. Trading in Russia has been halted following a massive fall and Britain's unemployment rates continue to rise, with no end in sight.