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Chancellor Alistair Darling personally blocked a plan to save Lehman Brothers by refusing to allow Barclays Bank to take over the stricken Wall Street giant, a new book claims.
Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street by New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin claims the Barclays deal was aborted once Darling declined to give it his blessing.
Then US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told bankers that Darling had “grin-fucked” America, the book alleges.
Barclays would have needed Darling to waive legislation before it could secure the Lehman deal. According to Sorkin, the chancellor told Paulson he did not want to “import our cancer”.
The book is published in the UK today. The Treasury has already moved to downplay it.
It disputes that Darling used the words attributed to him by the reporter.
Reader views (4)
Darling is a Scottish Solicitor. He has no training or experience in finance, economics or banking. He stopped Lloyds takeover of Northern Rock that would have avoided the Wreck. And he blocked Barclays on Lehman.
Brown is worse. He has no training at all. His degree was 'The Labour Party in Scotland'. He was the favourite of Jack Jones UK union boss.
Jones would be delighted in how Brown has achieved the destruction of the UK economy by stealth, while boasting 'I ended boom and bust', and blaming everyone else, especially Tories, for everything going wrong.
A bus driver blames passengers for going over a cliff.
In 1997 5 million worked for the State. Now 7 million work for the State. All those 2 million incomes could pay for many hospitals, schools, and helicopters. But not for Brown who uses taxes to buy votes for Labour, not to invest in the UK. Brown says 'Labour investment' and means Labour pay salaries and welfare, not investment.
Even the Guardian nailed Brown boasting about Labour youth investment. Only he had just cut front line youth training by £350 million!
- Kanny, glasgow uk, 07/12/2009 12:17
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Bob Diamond bought Lehman for Barclays for nothing. He bought the HQ for $1.75bn and got the bank thrown in for nothing! Tthe deal of the Century!
- James Macleod Ritchie, Oyster Bay Cove, 29/10/2009 16:40
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Dont forget that in 2004, Eddie George warned Gordon Brown that banking excesses were building and asset bubbles growing.
However, GB ignored EG as he had "abolished boom and bust" and could not be wrong!
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants, 29/10/2009 15:58
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How wise, and not bullied by some idiotic American.
- Alex Smart, London, 29/10/2009 14:02
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