Monday, December 29, 2014

Bank chief admits recession not caused by Labour

In a blow to Tory Prime Minister David Cameron former Bank of England chief admits that Labour were not to blame for the recession

Sir Mervyn King watches the Gentlemen's Singles semi-final match
Warning: Lord Mervyn King

The Labour government was not to blame for the financial ­meltdown, the former Bank of England chief said yesterday.

Mervyn King, now Lord King, said “no government” could have prevented the recession which followed the global economic crash in 2008.

He said: “The real problem was a shared view across the entire political spectrum and the financial markets that things were going pretty well.

“I don’t think it is easy to go back and say any one country on its own could have found their way through it.”

Lord King was the Governor of the Bank of England from July 2003 and July 2013 and his comments will come as a bitter blow to David Cameron.

The Tory PM has frequently accused Labour of “crashing the economy” while in power in a bid to scare voters into backing the Tories instead.

But Lord King, a crossbench peer with no political allegiance, insisted: “We as one country could not have stopped the financial crisis.”

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