英伦广角 2009-03-01 英银行体系改革

"These are momentous 1 times and now a banking 2 failure that has contaminated the whole economy. We are being lashed 3 by an economic hurricane, people's savings 4, mortgages and jobs at risk."

It may be called a party policy forum 5, but it seems there's no discussion when it comes to the banking crisis. Gordon Brown's rewriting the banking rule book. Like it or not, this, he says, is how it's going to work. Wholly state-owned Northern Rock would become a mortgage bank for home buyers and home owners. RBS-NatWest, which is 83% government owned, would be geared towards small business lending. There's a promise, too, of an industrial bank and an investment bank which Brown claims would fund innovation, also on the cards, a publically owned savings bank which may become the responsibility of the Post Office.

"Our task must be nothing less than to rebuild a financial system where it has failed and then to create an economy in which banks are no longer serving themselves, but are serving the public of this country."

The fact these changes have been driven by the former iron chancellor 6 seeks uncomfortably with the Conservatives.

"You have to look at who's been running the banking system the last 12 years, first of all. And the man has been running the overall economy has, of course, been Gordon Brown, of the man who set up the banking supervisory system in 1997 was, of course, Gordon Brown. So I think it's a bit rich for him to, to come out and produce a blueprint 7."

Despite posting phenomenal losses this week, banks, even the worst performers, RBS and HBOS, in fact, made profits in their retail 8 banking divisions. Critics say it's high time for big changes to Britain's banks.

"There's been no attempt to put government directors on the boards, no attempt to give any strategic direction on lending to some British companies, no attempt to overhaul 9 the scandals around the remuneration and pension payments. And the government is really just kind to have to move away from the high political rhetoric 10 to actually doing something with the banks which is rescued with public money."

And since the Prime Minister was on the subject of reckless decisions of the past, there was a mention too about flush Sir Fred Goodwin and his pension that had led to Lord Mandelson to call on his better nature and hand the cash back.

"If Sir Fred Goodwin has any sensitivity at all about what people feel about this, what people feel about a man taking away such a vast sum for the rest of his life on the back of the biggest corporate 11 loss and collapse 12 in the British business history, he will do the right thing, if he’s, if he's thinking."

Who knew what and when when it comes to Sir Fred's pension has now more or less been put to bed. To a large extent, so too, has the question, who does what and how when it comes to the banking of the future.

Paul Harrison, Sky News, Bristol