Morning:
14°c
The Government is poised to pump another £30billion of taxpayers money into the nation's ailing banks.
Chancellor Alistair Darling will this week unveil a scheme that will almost double the taxpayers' stake in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, which took over HBOS at the peak of the financial crisis last year.
The bulk of the £30billion - roughly £500 per person in Briton - will be spent on £25billion of new shares in RBS, taking the Government's holding in the company to 84 per cent.
The rest will go into Lloyds, which will also seek to raise billions of pounds from City shareholders.
In addition to the stakes taken in the banks, taxpayers are also underwriting many billions more of bad assets to protect the lenders from bankruptcy.
A major shake-up of the banking industry this week will see Mr Darling set out plans to create three new high- street banks.
The Chancellor hopes to introduce greater competition to the industry.
Reader views (6)
What's he doing with his hand in that photo? Jedi mind tricks? "these aren't the figures you're looking for, move along".
- Bob, Cheam
But what is the alternative - letting everything go to the wall like Thatcher did in the 1980 where lage parts of the country were devasted, manufacturing industries went to he wall and people had no future what so ever.
Surely we must have learnt some lessons from that time.
- Keith, West London
He would be better off writing a cheque for £1000 for every taxpayer. That way we would either spend the money, in which case retailers benefit through increased sales, as does the government through VAT income; or we would save the money, in which case the banks get the money anyway.
It is obvious that Darling and Brown are clutching at straws and are desperate not to be the last major economy to be mired in recession, especially as we are now 6 months from deciding who will have the right to implement Brussels' edicts for the next 5 years.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one
I'm not sure about his A level maths - Brown went to University at 16 - young even taking into account the difference with the system in Scotland. I would suggest Mr Brown is certainly more able than most of us.
- Sidney, London
How does a wholly bankrupt Third World banana republic police state gone mad UK suddenly find another £30 billion to throw at the bankrupt banks?
Easy!! Put the UK in deeper debt until the year 2050.
Don't you just know that Gormless Brown failed to even get an A-Level in mathematics?
I would not trust Dizzy Darling or Gormless Brown to operate the till in my local fish shop.
- Reuben Camara, Plot 1, Morecambe Compound, EUSSR
Quick, give them more tax payer money as it is bonus time. I can think of numerous better uses for our money, then again this is an election tactic. Get the banks lending to everyone,forget our debts, encourage a housing boom, we all feel richer and vote labour. NO THANKS.
- Nickspurs, London
