Politicians argue over Northern Rock
January 25, 2008
Politicians from all three main parties, and indeed the Prime Minister himself, have been arguing over the Northern Rock crisis, with blame and accusations being banded around. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has been accused of dithering about Northern Rock, with the leader of the Tory Party stating that Mr Brown did not take action quickly enough because he was busy planning a general election.
David Cameron said to the Prime Minister “You dithered and delayed, why did you dither and delay? Because you were planning a general election.”
Cameron also accused Brown of using £55 billion of taxpayers’ money to prop up the ailing bank. Mr Brown responded by stating that his actions had all been in the “interests of the stability of the economy”. He did add that the government intended to get back all of the taxpayers’ money.
In the meantime Vince Cable from the Liberal Democrats has attacked the conservatives, stating that although they have branded the possible nationalization of Northern Rock as a disaster they have failed to identify any alternatives.
He said: “The Conservatives have repeatedly stated that the nationalisation of Northern Rock would be a disaster, yet they have completely failed to offer what their alternative would be if a viable private bidder cannot be found.”
He added: “We must assume that if no private bidder can be found, the Tories would rather see Northern Rock go into administration. It would seem that the Tories’ rhetoric, like the rest of their economic policy, is nothing more than an empty shell of warm words and zero substance.”
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