Carmichael – “Gordon Brown must accept his role in banking failure” (North Tayside Liberal Democrats)

North Tayside Liberal Democrats <info@libdems.org.uk>

Carmichael – “Gordon Brown must accept his role in banking failure”

March 18, 2009 5:26 PM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael today (Wednesday 18 March) challenged the Secretary of State for Scotland Mr Jim Murphy over the Prime Ministers role in the recent collapse of the UK banking sector. FSA Chairman Lord Turner today published his widely anticipated report aimed at restricting banks' risk-taking.

Speaking during Scottish Questions, Mr. Carmichael said; "Does the Secretary of State agree that today's publication of Adair Turner's proposals for a new regulatory system for the banking sector is an illustration of the extent to which the previous regulatory system put in place by the Prime Minister failed? What does he say today to the thousands of Scots who face losing their jobs in the financial sector as a consequence of the Prime Minister's previous failure?"Alistair Carmichael MP: Orkney & Shetland

Mr. Murphy replied; "The fact is that the international regulatory regime did not keep pace with a remarkable change in the global movement of finance-a fact now well acknowledged across the world. That is why we need, as part of the G20 process, a new architecture for regulation. Banking will never be and should never be the same again. As for the hon. Gentleman's point on unemployment, we will do everything we possibly can to ameliorate the consequences of this international recession. Many Scottish families have people who have lost their jobs over the past few weeks, as has been confirmed today. As I say, we will do everything we possibly can to stop the newly unemployed from becoming the long-term unemployed by giving people additional skills and retraining in order to retain their confidence and an attachment to the labour market. Of course things are more difficult. Not everyone can walk straight into a job, but we should not ignore anyone, and we should try to support people to keep their skills and confidence fresh."

Commenting after his exchange in the House of Commons, Alistair Carmichael added; "Jim Murphy's response was quite remarkable. His reference to 'international regulatory regime' was a work of fiction. There is no such thing. The system of regulation which allowed bankers to bring banks such as the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland to the point of collapse was one which was created by Gordon Brown himself. He boasted of this for long enough. I am pleased that we are now seeing a move back towards a more cautious and sustainable approach to banking but the constant pretence that all our problems are somebody else's fault does not reflect well on Labour politicians."