Brown says sorry (sort of)

Wookster

Brown: I should have done more to prevent bank crisis

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/17/gordon-brown-recession-banking-regulation

Gordon Brown attempts to launch a political fightback today by declaring that he takes "full responsibility" for his role in the banking failures that led to the global recession, and claims that the downturn marks the end of the era of laissez-faire government.

In an interview with the Guardian, the prime minister concedes that in retrospect he wishes he had mounted a popular campaign 10 years ago to demand more responsible regulation of the world's financial markets. He attempts to draw a line under calls for him to make an apology by admitting that the national system of regulation he helped establish in 1997 could not keep pace with the massive global financial flows.

It seems to me that this is half hearted and that Crash still does not understand the fundamental reasons why the UK is so badly affected. He still wants to stand on his soap box and claim that Britain is the innocent victim to a global financial crisis.

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So he goes from taking no responsibility to full responsibility, the guy is clueless. He says he should have done more, too right, the guy was chancellor for the 10 years of boom that were built on the 'quicksands of debt'. It was completely unsustainable. Pyramid schemes always are.

JP45

I suspect this latest attempt to draw a line under the issue will do nothing of the sort as I believe most people will see this as a completely empty form of apology.

He's not acknowledging any responsibility for failing to tackle the housing boom and the growing budget deficit. At every budget he would trot out the same old mantra of no return to boom and bust whilst the housing market rocketed away to ever more ludicrous levels.

I think this latest attempt will simply reinforce the view that Brown is pathalogically incapable of apologising, just one aspect of what is clearly a deeply flawed personality.

lostinrates

''I should have done more to prevent...'' flys in the face of the message that its all America's fault.

Anyway, I wanted an admission that UK are not just victims in this, and this does that for me. Perhaps we can now move on to look at what would make us more stable in future 'global events' and start making real changes for long term..not to see us through til 'things return to normal'

Pobby

What` is more important to me is, Brown should explain his thinking regarding allowing this to happen. Plenty of people stated that this was a one way street that would lead to no good. So why did he carry on? Was it a question of putting his hands over his years and yelling " la,la,la,la,la,la,la" and hoping it would all go away?

dandy-candy

I don't know why the media are so obsessed with getting Brown to apologise. I don't care if he says sorry or not. I don't even want to hear his excuses of how or why he messed up - It won't change a thing. I just want him to go. :mad:

Old_Slaphead

Has Mr Brown done anything good while he's been in office ?

(Answers on the back of a postage stamp ??)

sabretoothtigger

In theory the independent rates for BOE was a good call but it should have had control of the FSA as well probably

Wookster

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

In theory the independent rates for BOE was a good call

It was, however the BoE should have targeted the RPI rather than the CPI.

lostinrates

dandy-candy wrote: »

I don't know why the media are so obsessed with getting Brown to apologise. I don't care if he says sorry or not. I don't even want to hear his excuses of how or why he messed up - It won't change a thing. I just want him to go. :mad:

Its not to do with ''sorry'' not for me anyway. Its about accepting the problem was not wholly of others making, and accepting that our own affairs were not in order. We can't really have change without accepting what was happening was not right. While Brown continued to deny anything was in existance to apologise for he was saying that there was nothing here that was wrong in policy or legislation. If its not broke, as he was suggetsing, why fix it. Of course, now we all accept it was broken here we can attempt a fix.

Rochdale_Pioneers

He shouldn't say sorry to keep the baying wolves happy - the only apology they want is one that includes his resignation. Admitting responsibility for whats gone on is further than I expected him to go - he's saying that regardless of what went on abroad he set up the system here and that system was swept away (along with most other places' systems) by an international storm.

Perhaps what would be useful would be for him to clarify why he said that international regulation was needed (and he did repeatedly) and why when noone listened he said "screw it then" and helped Britain lead the way in the very behaviours he criticised.