Getting away with it

Great blog from Faisal Islam here. Some crazy stuff from Darling's book:

The stuff about bankers is far far more important and of direct relevance today, as our politicians could launch the biggest shake-up of Britain’s banking system in decades. Darling was, after all, the man who signed the cheques. There’s some astounding detail.

* the angry phone call from one of the world’s top bankers after Darling brought in the bonus tax, where the banker seems to threaten not to buy UK Government debt. Extraordinary.

* HBoS trying to buy Bradford & Bingley, even as it was in deep trouble itself.

* HBoS requiring £16bn of overnight funding to keep going.

* confirmation that RBS cash machines were two hours from closing in October 2008.

If I read that first bullet point right, it appears that a banker was threatening the Government over tax policy. I have no doubt that they try and pull similar sh1t now. In the 70s we reached a crisis point in politics - "who governs?" - do we face something similar now, with the failure of private sector power in the banks, News Corp etc to accept accountability?