Quote tvoc="tvoc"The Tories were seeking an even lighter touch re-regulation of the city and backed Labour's spending plans right up to the global crash that started in the sub-prime market in the USA. The major difference then being that the Tories would have probably seen the likes of Northern Rock and the Halifax go under and their depositors left penniless, with unempolyment and home repossessions hitting the heights of previous recessions under Tory rule.'"
I think you will find the Tories did not agree with the flawed system of regulation introduced by the Labs which split responsibility three ways and totally failed to regulate the banks. "Oh I though you lot were going to check that!" "Ooo..No we thought that was your job"
The US sub-prime mortgage market may have been the start of the crash but the cause of the problem was the long period of low interest credit based overspending by both governments and consumers alike which ran up debts that we now have to pay back.
In the UK the New Labour Government after promising "an end to boom and bust" went along with a spending spree which as a country we simply couldn't afford and was gross financial mis-management. You can speculate all you like about what the Conservatives may or maynot have done had they been in power but you have to accept the fact that it was on the Labour government's watch and therefore their responsibility.
The UK as a very wealthy country had enjoyed a sustain period of growth based on a world boom, yet its Labour government failed to save anything for the rainy day that they never saw coming. Like Viv Nickolson, we went on a binge of "spend spend spend" but whereas she used her own pools winnings Labour borrowed the money for our binge.
With regard to the bank bail outs. Mr Brown showed us with his handling of the Lloyds episode why he is a politician and will never be professional manager.
I think we need a period of "nasty" government to fix the "nasty" problems left by that "nice" Mr Blair and that "naive" Mr Brown!
