by Sarah Frankton

Created on: August 12, 2009   Last Updated: August 17, 2009

Last year in the UK and indeed around the world a series of banking collapses almost led to complete economic meltdown. Several banks on both sides of the Atlantic went under and several more were saved by their respective governments. Taxpayers money, and billions of it, was pumped into the banking system in every major western country to save the international banking system.

It became clear that banks in the UK had borrowed and lent far beyond their means, and had misinformed many savers of the dangers of their investments. The city in general had lived for years in an orgy of excess; excessive salaries, excessive bonuses, excessive lifestyles. When HBOS went to the government for a hand-out a deal was brokered whereby the executives were asked to leave/take early retirement and give-up their bonuses, but not before Sir Fred Goodwin and others had secured their excessive, (750,000 pa!) pensions, to enable an excessive retirement. These men, who had failed to avert the collapse of their banks and who had asked for massive taxpayer hand-outs will now get massive pensions for the rest of their lives whilst the every day worker in their banks faces job insecurity, possible redundancy and money worries.

High street lending has ground to a halt, the property market has been in free-fall, unemployment is at its highest level in over 10 years, and yet our money has been pumped into these banks in order for there executives to retire early on fat sums. Small businesses on the other hand do not have such luxuries. Many small, often family run firms, have run into trouble this year and where is there help. Where if the help from the government? Where indeed is the help from the banks? Instead of passing on the taxpayers money back to those who need it, they are using it to re-balance their books. The Government meanwhile stands by and watches.

Having given the banks all of the countries available money and probably more, it merely watches as mortgage rates for new borrowers remains high, as fees creep even higher, as people face eviction or redundancy, as loans to small businesses all but dry up. The government merely watches as the banks do nothing to alleviate the economic problems faced by this country.

There is an argument, I'll admit, that to let a bank fail would lead to enormous problems and I understand that, but there has to be serious repercussions, the bank bosses should have all been sacked without their huge pensions and pay-offs. It

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