"chris, leeds, uk" we never denmanded anything. England demanded we(the ruling elite, not people) make up our minds after darrien. If your going to spout drivel please at least get some correct!

Jkerr, edinburgh, Scotland

Interesting that HBOScotland and RBScotland are costing the UK taxpayer so much!

William, London , UK

england takes all our money all the time and doesnt return anything! scottish independence!

Liam, Aberdeen, Scotland

The government is trying to stabilise the markets, however they are doing it in the way Labour thinks is best - spending money to make the problem go away. The last ten years has seen everything state related become solely about financial procurement rather than vision and intelligent policy.

John, London, UK

Steven, Sunderland, Hows about good and reliable neighbours with less of the against us? The whole argument is that of an abused woman leaving home and being told she'd never make it on her own, nobody wants her and SHE U-G-L-Y
:-)

Jkerr, edinburgh, Scotland

Phil, Aberdeen

Its not scottish oil, its UK oil. You remember that same union you asked to be estabilished all those years ago because your country was bankrupt, it was scotland that wanted the union formed. But now you have oil, its yours not england, wales, scotland nothern ireland?

chris, leeds, uk

Its all very well saying that the shareholders should suffer, but hello, thats us! My meagre pension fund (the government pension payment won't be worth a penny when you retire!) has investments in funds that are bound to have bank shares. We should look after ourselves! Keep ploitics out of this.

Nicholas, Birmingham,

shareholders have a say in how a business is run. They took divis without asking questions. Now the divis are to stop they don't like it. They are not blameless. They should have queried how the business was making the money. Then they would have realized the mngmnt didn't have a clue.

moya, kent, uk

No honestly-get a life everyone! Escape! Have fun! Appreciate having SOME wealth..a television, several computers, cars, and being able to take a couple of foreign holidays each year, food, water, freedom to roam our beautiful countryside, decent clothes etc..calm down! Watch the X Factor or sommat

diane, buxton, derbyshire

At last, Brown is finally taking action after years of calls for him to do something about these "thieves" who have been taking huge amounts of our money. We shouldn't be praising him, he should go! Too little too late...

Vaughan, Leicester, England

"..not incentives for irresponsibility or excessive risk-taking for which the rest of us have paid."

So why were you singing the praises of the risk-takers only a few months ago, Mr Brown? Cameron was as well, both their attempts' to reposition themselves as stern regulators are laughable.

Owen, London, UK

Stupidity rules again. Government should take shares in Banks - impose management conditions, create more stringent oversight. But Nationalise....... Best way to Bankrupt Britain.

Richard, Stanstead Abbotts,

is the shareholder of RBS (Government or ultimately us) going to reduce RBS's exposure to Investment Banking, a volatile business that has ultimately lead to this mess, or are we going to continue to pay these investment bankers 100 000++ to do a poor job.

Tandre, London, uk

If the whole banking system fails, the people most affected will not be the bankers that now have houses and chash stashed away, but the average taxpayer. So it makes sense that they would want to use taxpayers money in order to revive the banking system.

Steven, london,

How can shareholders expect any dividends when public funds now prop up failing banks? Nationalisation means that shareholders are nul and void. Alistair Darling is quite right to say that these people should not pocket money from the public purse. Reckless behaviour must be penalised not rewarded.

Colin, Carmarthen, United Kingdom

There is a note of anger amongst english posters about 'saving' the scottish banks. Throw them to the sword let them sort it out so we keep all the taxes! Can we have our oil revenue back then? England would not have cut Scotland loose in the 70's but now you have the oil money, p**s off scotland

Phil, Aberdeen,

dear god! why not target the people who have come here because they know they can esilt sponge off the country! good old tax payers!

Kiran, London,

Why would Lloyds want Gvt ownership in return for being pushed to buy HBOS? Why wouldn't shareholders of Lloyds TSB just want to stay independent and have zero dilution to their shareholders base?

Ian, Madison, USA

targeting pay of top five executives in a company and leaving the rest to get a fat check is surely a strategy that leads to disaster. Either the whole structure of pay needs to change now or not.

emma, london,

Is the shareholder of RBS (Government or ultimately us) going to reduce RBS's exposure to Investment Banking, a volatile business that has ultimately lead to this mess, or are we going to continue to pay these investment bankers 100 000++ to do a poor job.

T Andre, London, UK

Suffering from so many of Fred's shreds, acquisitively culled RBS staff survivors now linger at levels far too low for dependable commerce. It will take much time, care and investment restoring this body of people who make it all work before the RBS vehicle is again roadworthy let-alone race worthy!

Mr John Wright, Southend on Sea, Essex

Brown has no chance of sorting this out. HBOS and RBS will still collapse, and a lot of our money will have been wasted.

Np, England, Never Never Land

I like the bit where the RBS is only going to pay them in shares does this mean we all get shares.Cos these jokers who keep telling us that they need more money from us for bank charges have really made a killing over the time they where in office.

Tony Kiernan, Cairns,Queensland , Australia

The next step in stemming the tide is to enforce a moratorium on banks exercising their options to increase interest rates on Adjustable Rate Mortgages. This will eliminate the primary cause of the surge in foreclosures and doesn't cost the banks or the taxpayers anything.

David Richardson, Centennial, Colorado, USA

Billy in Cardiff, please be a bit more accurate when you describe the English as German immigrants. This might apply to the south and midlands but in Cumbria and Lancashire we are more of a celtic/norse mix.
Wish our history was more well known but think it served the ruling classes to play it down

J Whiteside, Lytham,Lancashire, England

To " howard hunter, tampa"

Yes, I would really love to see Scotland "go it's own way". This would include the British government stopping the scandalous subsidies Scotland gets from the English taxpayer (11.3bn a year). We will then see just how Scotland manages "on its own".

Matt, Warrington, England

English xenophobia towards to the indigenous Britons knows no bounds -

must be because they are ashamed at being nothing but a bunch of German immigrants !

billy, Cardiff, Wales

"Our action is driven by our values"

Gordon, you pathetic hypocrite. 10 years of no 10 forelock-tugging to the square mile produced this situation - to even try to claim moral high ground after letting this situation develop is frankly breathtaking.

What a pathetic, miserable place Parliament is.

Andy W, Reading, UK

Steven@Sunderland .. we will see who hangs if the day ever comes my friend :-)

susan, glasgow,

What's to be said, Ernest, is that England, in its own self interest, is shoring up the institutions of a Scotland it has exploited and pilfered for centuries. Perhaps you'd prefer that the Scottish banks be left to Scottish resources--and that Scotland go its own way. Be careful what you wish for..

howard hunter, tampa,

"Brown targets fat cat pay after nationalising banks in £37 billion bailout"

So now the financial crisis is over Brown's turning his attention to Peter Mandelson. Awesome!

Jonathan, Oxfordshire, England

Margaret in Brighton is obviously not aware that Greater London receives a higher per capita grant from Westminster than Scotland. Does she seriously believe that RBS and its staff only pay tax to the Scottish Government? She watches too much BBC News!

Jacqueline Hyde, Inverness, United Kingdom

NatWest and Halifax were staid but successful English banks until the Scots bought them. Now look what's happened. We will still be expected to save Scottish jobs at the expense of English ones. How many Yorkshire people will loose their jobs when Lloyds TSB takes over HBOS as opposed to Scots.

Simon Jones, London,

What I want to know is who were the auditors for these banks?
One of the top four no doubt.
So the next question is why bother with auditors who cannot or will not ask the right questions and raise the alarms where necessary

Karl, Hanworth,

It was not too long ago that Gordon Brown was publicly praising the obscene "Fat Cat" bonus system which the Bankers and other City people were awarding themselves. Perhaps he has conveniently forgotten that - we haven't though.

Neil, Gloucestershire, England

A slap on the wrist of these greedy gamblers is not enough. In my view its criminal. There should be a public enquiry into how banks were able to get themselves in this situation & how the FSA allowed them to do so. If you want to spend our hard earned tax money, that the least the govt. should do.

KHaroon, Swindon, UK

Any chance I can invite Gordon Brown in buying into me ? for a 40% share I'd be willing to accept £5m !!

Nick, London, UK

So, now I'm funding banks that failed due to risky and improper behaviour - the very same banks that will take my house from me if I lose my job because their risky and improper behaviour has been and is now wrecking the economy.

Yeah, I think that's fair, don't you?

Robert Rocheleau, Worthing, UK

As a taxpayer, I would welcome a director appointment on the board of the "failed" banks
I do believe that I shall bring moderation, rigour, realism, transparency, vision ..
What do i know about these competencies? Nothing but that is more than Central Bankers, Bankers, Regulators and politicians

Fessal Bouaziz, London,

Gordon Brown this, Labour that, come on UK, IT’S A GLOBAL PROBLEM. It is not about the government. It's about greed and over spending, people living self obsessed lives of materialism leading to spiralling debts. Who gives a dam about that if you end up jobless?
Tories would handle it better? BAH!

Rob, Manchester,

are we sure that there are no short sellers i bought lloyds at 1.95 made a cupof tea and it was 1.60 bloomberg said lloyds had the deal of the century..............FOR WHO?

andy, surrat, thailand

Rose in Edinburgh: Please clarify... don't blame the people of the U.S... blame our government.

Leigh, Akron, U.S.A.

Scottish bashing is really pathetic. Typical english to always want to blame someone else.....
You dont mind scottish soldiers getting killed and most scottish money institutions were bought by english companies. If RBS had not been as big they would have been bought by European Bank..

Garry, London,

Susan@Glasgow.
I live in the NE of England and have many Scotish friends, but as a nation YOU have to decide if you are with the UK or against it. If you think your interests lie with the UK, we will fight together, if not , England will look after it's own best interests and let you go hang.

Steven, Sunderland,

What a shame that Gordon Brown wasn't involved in financial strategy for the last 10 years, he could have done something to prevent all of this. Still he's going to lead us through it now.

Nick Matthew, london,

Barclays and RBS have issued Preferred Shares. Is the dividend "freeze" only applicable to ordinary shares or ALL (I dread to think) shares? Presumably taxpayer preferred shares have priority over others!?

Peter, St Lucia,

""Our action is driven by our values," the PM said." This from the man who looted pension funds then told people to save more.
If he's so outraged by the City bonus culture why didn't he raise taxes from 40% to 60% above £250K ? Because EC1 would have moved to Dubai next day. And it may well do.

Rex, London,

Would like to point out that most Scot haters in my experience are from the s-e of England.
Personally wish the SNP would cast its net a bit further south as London is like a foreign country to many of us in the north.
Wonder what would happen if the rest of us broke free from the south-east?

J Whiteside, Lytham,Lancashire, England

Lloyds TSB must be insane taking over HBOS with all the Government interference that will entail.

They can forget about rationalising the work force.

Martin, Reading ,

In the USA the goverment and Wall Street are still criticised and shunned by voters.

In the UK Tax payers money is thrown to the wall and the public think Brown is a hero.

Says it all about the UK memory ability.

IT AINT HIS MONEY! Its the UK TAXPAYER who will PAY AGAIN for the same thing.

Paul, London,

It's ridiculous that the bank can splurge millions on employing an Indian cricket player, Sachin Tendulkar in TV commercials in India, but they have to run to the govt for a bailout! I wonder how the shareholders don't protest. BTW the ad is also poorly made, so it is a total waste of money.

Mandar, Mumbai,

Bill Rees, Truro....

It was socialism that led to this, not capitalism. Brown borrowed, borrowed & borrowed some more to pay for all the public sector jobs, getting us into debt, sold off our gold reserves cheaply & steered the UK Titanic into the iceberg. Now he's trying tp prevent it sinking!

Phil, Preston,

Brown Labour at the helm? Fin du Monde we are doomed to these Marxists pests. Hitler would be horrified to see his these global comedians at work on his plan. Can you believe Blue/Brown Labour exploiting the entire banking system to cover their incompetent butt. Watch and dread.

JL, london, uk

You know what's really funny about all this?

The Tories once they're in power will privatise these banks.

Martin, Reading ,

The right move by the government, a world-leading move in fact -- and the only chance of avoiding a depression and massive taxpayer losses and of properly managing the bad debt.

Now, will Gordon Brown finally admit that genuflecting at the altar of Thatcherism might have been a mistake?

DBX, Chicago, USA

So can we expect the fats cats to take a £37bn pay cut?

Paul, Coventry,

What worries me is-- if I go to the ATM to withdraw money and it tells me "Insufficient Funds" I will not know whether its mine or the banks!

MouseyJean, Bedford, UK

Criminal charges should be laid against these people.All these trillions of dollars over dozens of years should have gone to the shareholders or the people with the bank accounts not outrageous paychecks and golden retirement handshakes,It's disgraceful

Stephen Hicken, Pt.Colborne Ontario, Canada

My Father worked over 40 years for Natwest and over that period saved every share he got. Then a meglomaniac Scottish lunatic came along and stole the bank. In 7 years the Scottish management has squandered 90 billion dollars of money and broken a number of strong honest institutions.... Sickening!!

Eddie Smith, London,

The fringe radical factions must be delighted. A much better way to undermine capitalism than on the battlefield.

Anyway Gordon why was a fraction of this money not available for supporting workers pay, equipment and conditions especially the armed forces ?

Pete, Ipswich, uk

So is there going to be an inquiry into why all the experts in the FSA, Treasury, auditors etc. (who are now, of course, all being wise in hindsight) failed so miserably in their duty to anticipate and avoid this dreadful situation? Most continue to act as if it was an unforeseeable Act of God.

Chris K, Cheltenham, UK

Is it likely these bankers are incompetent? Perhaps we should instead ponder that they know exactly what they are doing. What are their goals? What vision of the world do they hold? These men have overwhelming influence. Arguably, we have no functioning governance.

Clinton K, Edmonton, Canada

This just shows how much politicians do not understand banking. Gordon Brown told the banks to be "more flexible" when doing mtge lending less than 2 years ago, now he is chastising them for doing so! He told them to lend more, as he knows without that lending the country will collapse. His fault.

Mark, Bedford,

Given the lack of honesty so far amongst bankers i hope they have taken account of all financing needs including those off balance sheet derivatives in order to make sure they have enough funds available to them,

simon, london,

Gordon Brown is like the captain of the Titanic who is now desperately trying to stop the UK sinking after steering it into the commercial iceberg.

Phil, Preston,

Mr Brown and Mr Darling must be FORCED to investigate this debacle. They are in fact the chief architects of this disaster.
The mega audit firms must pay for the cost of investigation & reporting because where were they when all this madness was accepted as sanity!

joe123, London,

No wonder Barclays has declined the Treasury's offer.
They like the bonuses and the dividends, and seem prepared to take a chance on going bust. Pity the poor shareholders who will ulitmately loose out as the nationalised banks carve up the market.

David Nammory, Liverpool,

Does this mean i get free tickets to the RBS 6 Nations as a perk due to the shares my taxes have paid for?Roll on the collapse of Guinness and Heineken(there are also other brands of beer/stout available) then i can watch all of my rugby for free!This recession isnt going to be as bad as i thought!

Max, Truro, UK

To all English - Holyrood has 3% influence on taxes and most of the share capital for these banks is from London markets. The banking regulations are passed by Westminster not Holyrood. You want out, the Scots won't mind at all - but I bet Westminster won't agree.

KR, Stockport,

These banker clearouts signal a refreshing change to the way we will all do business. Next step - enforceable rules which will stop large, powerful, but incompetent companies raising city money in order to take out efficient competitors, then selling off the assetts. City boys - on yer bikes !

John Fisher, Edinburgh,

As an Englishmen I am fed up[ with all this racist talk of the scottish banks. They are British Banks, RBS owns Nat west,HBOS, the halifax. This is a British problem, not a scottish one and it does no good spouting racist doctrine, be that from the little englanders or the SNP.

Barry, London, UK

Now, why is that the American Media doesn't criticize Obama for blaming the crisis on Bush when the most socialist countries of the world are spending almost twice as much money to bail out their banks? Is that Bush to blame too???

Fernando, Stanford,CA, United States

Les Paton - I would prefer you let us go 'full stop'. Go on - rise up and be a nation. You're always threatening to (so long as someone else picks up the tab).

Harold Stone, Stamford, England

So England will be the first to fall to socialism.

Just makes it that much harder for us in the US.

Lovers of liberty head for the hills. We will return after the collapse.

Bill, San diego, USA

GLAD TO SEE ITS A RACE TO SEE WHO CAN WASTE THE MOST TAXPAYER MONEY.. OR AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT FRENCH PRESIDENT THINKS.

Gloating about putting more money up from you think your United Europe against the United States..

You win gratz.. Dollar goes up Euro goes down!! Oh wait!!

jeremy Charles, Dallas, USA

No bonus for bankers full stop until they have made back all the money they have lost, plus repaid all the capital and interest that we have loaned them. Banks must also pass on interest rates cut for those on SVR in full. That's a roughly a third of people with motgages who can't remortgage.

Rupert, London, UK

Margaret in Brighton: R Bank Of Scotland is the NAME of a PUBLICLY traded company, it is owned by people everywhere and certainly throughout the UK, probably your pension fund included. As for being bailed out by the English taxpayer, do you think that people in Scotland, Wales & NI don't pay tax?

Simon, Salisbury, UK

ALL previous Labour governments have been thrown out of office after they have left the country much worse off in financial, social and spiritual terms. This one is no exception . The only difference this time is that they have employed numerous spin doctors to try and make us believe otherwise.

R.McGeddon, London, England

Well said Margaret, Brighton .. what fantastic financial managers the Scots have proven to be! Will Gordon Broon ever live down his 'end to boom & bust' comment? Oh & please can we have our (English) gold back?

Victoria, London, UK

david devonport, Great Yarmouth, UK

74 Heath -- country bankrupt
81 Thatcher - country not bankrupt
91-Thatcher/Major/Lamont - country not bankrupt
2010 - Blair/Brown -- country bankrupt

David Smith, Stourbridge, UK

Great idea. Cut executive pay. Now all our top people can go to the US and Asia to get paid what they are worth. We will be left with even more foolish people than we already have. The cycle continues.

Nick, London, UK

Re: the call to change the name to Royal Bank Of England by Margaret, Brighton. Why not call it Royal Bank Of Britain? After all it's the British taxpayer, not the English taxpayer who is providing funds, or have I missed something.
ps I'm a Scot who's proud to be British.

Gordon Callan, Shanghai, China

I bet Christmas in the city won't change.

Dave, Chorley,

as a man in the street, its lovely to see bankers being told by MP's to curb salaries when Mr Mandelhson has just raked in £1m in a redundancy payment from the european parliament.

Andy Cappell, Radstock Bath, England.

This has probably put a smile on Fidel's face.....2009 will be interesting....

Is everything and anything that fails going to be gov.t owned then?

C. Kroustis, London, UK

the rbs was keen to get the highly speculative investmentarm of the abn-amro,the value of this business is very much diluted and will bring a big loss in case of sale:; may be ist only 1quarter worth because the whole investmentbank businessmodel will generate only slim profits in the future.

ralf, malaga,

David Devonport should check his history. Heath lost power in February 74 following a labour-inspired political strike, leading to near- anarchy. The hard time sof the early 80s were the last of the hangover from a disastrous 5 years under labour. If 91 was so bad, how did the Tories win in 92?!

Austin, London,

But whose £37 Billion will Mr Brown be using?
This is no magic antidote to the problem our ex-Chancellor has wreaked on this country.
Why can this stupendous sum now be found - where previously it was a pain foist on the tax-payer to find a relatively modest sum for the NHS? I smell a very dead rat

David Michael, London, UK

I'm an American who happened to be working for Barclays in the '80s. I'm saddened by what has occured to these clearing banks. Everyone was so excited during the Big Bang period when these banks blew apart from their clearing bank mentalities. It's just a shame they made a mess of it over time.

JM, Mission Viejo, USA

Markets can only function if they are not competing against monopolies – government owned banks, with limitless resources, are a monopoly.

Brian Christley, Abergele, UK

"Gordon Brown called an end to the days of overblown City salaries today as he pumped £37 billion of taxpayers' money into the partial nationalisation of three of the country's biggest banks."

What about the overblown salaries and and perks of the real fat-cats of Westminster?

David Michael, London, UK

Seb London- It was the 5 biggest bank in the world by market capitalisation back in 2003 when it was worth £60bln. Not anymore it is now behind all the other 3 banks in the uk not to mention the like of citigroup and japanese banks. It has never even challanged top 10 in terms of assets.

Roy, london,

What we are seeing is creeping nationalisation by the back door. Eventually this government will own our banks, then set about re-nationalising our essential services. Of course, a Tory government will then set about selling them off again!

Ron, Milton Keynes, UK

If RBoS is now nationalised, does that mean that "we" as the public now own Liverpool Football Club? Isn't RBoS the institution that finance the purchase on behalf of Hicks & Gillet?

julian , Kent, UK

What tosh about Scottish independance etc. You all liked it when this 'small' scottish bank became huge and made you money...... This is nothing to do with being scottish. we are all affected Mr Jack from Standish - pathetic! Didnt mind the millions from oil - 70% in Scottish Territorial Waters.

Garry, London,

To all those rejoicing in the imminent demise of the capitalist system, a cautionary note. If capitalism as we know it were to fall, what exactly would fill it's vacuum?

John , Taipei,

Hate to spoil the party but the debt problem has not dissappeared, it has just been passed to the taxpayer. UK PLC is still living beyond its means with a large current account trade deficit. This, together with unsustainable public borrowing, will lead to further crises.

Stephen Marchant, Newton Abbot, UK

ERNEST, LONDON - Do you know what you're talking about? Seems not! RBS is the 5th largest banking group in the world, 10th largest company in world. Owns - RBS, Ulster, NatWest, Coutts & many more. It's as much English as it is Scottish & I believe it's BRITISH taxpayers - not "English" taxpayers.

Seb, London, SW3,

".. fair reward for hard work, effort and enterprise, not incentives for irresponsibility ..."

If Gordon Brown was sincere with the above, he would equally be dictating a reduction in index linked public sector pension schemes, a major economic problem that cannot be ignored any longer.

John Mitchell, Newton Abbot, UK

All this Scots bashing by English people like Ernest.You must learn from history.Throughout the last 500 years Englands preoccupation with Scotland has meant they have been looking North instead of South.Spain is victorious owning Abbey,A&L,B&B and pumping in £1 bn to lend to last English Bank

Antonio, Santander,

Some folks are so worked up over this financial problem that they confuse it with an economic one.

The American & British economies are basically sound.

Any of you selling your shares in good, solid companies, please let me know, I'm buying as long as my cash holds out.

Dave Livingston, El Paso County, Colorado, USA

Id rather have the government own the banks than the banks own the government. It seems to me that if we just gave them a blank check they would own us. That is not acceptable.

adamrussell, sierra vista, usa

I wonder what Sir Fred will do with his pension pay off. Is there anywhere safe for him to put it? Oh and what has happened to the supposed crisis in credit default swaps which was panicking everyone on Friday?

sheila, LEICESTER, England

Will people please stop mistaking the current govt. intrusions and coerced economic plans as CAPITALISM. We haven't lived in a truly Free Market in a long time, and probably won't ever again. Political figures can't fix our problems w/ more laws. Free Markets can't survive alongside coerced ones.

Mike G, Coppell, USA

This is just a ruse to placate the public. In the overall scheme of things, the bankers pay is insignificant. The treasury should not have stepped in.

Hamad Lone, London, England

Can anyone tell me, as a Lloyds TSB shareholder, what is happening to the Ordinary share dividend ? Will there be any ?

David, Andover, England, UK

Quote..."The SNP and S.Parliament are curiously quiet on "English" help if the RBS needs help let the Scots fund it.
Steve Goodfellow, Chelmsford, Essex"

You forget that RBS owns Natwest, an "English" bank. Would you prefer that we let that go under and save the "Scottish" part.

Les Paton, Largs, Scotland

This is stage one of many, what we will need to know is why the banks continued to declare their strengths when it was apparent they were in a mess. Is not a deliberate attempt by public companies to mslead an offence under the law? These issues must be settlled so the public regains confidence!

Robert D Marshall, LONDON, UK

Yes Ernest, London there is something to say about this - the 2 biggest BRITISH banks need bailed out just like the English Bradford and Bingley and Northern Rock needed to be bailed out by BRITISH taxpayers

Paul, glasgow,

At least we UK taxpayers are getting something in return for the massive bailout money (ie shares), unlike the Yanks under Poulson's scam, I mean plan, where they stood to get nothing for rewarding Wall St.'s greed & incompetence.

If this Brown plan works, his political stock will soar.

Joe, London, UK

What Price are we paying for these 'Preference Shares'? If the price is at the current Values then one would think that we (the Tax Payer) will be in profit in the medium term ( within 18 months)?

Billy, Bangkok, Thailand

I am afraid this is a depression Gentlemen.

joe, st.john's, canada

the 2 biggest British Banks needing a bail out are actually both Scottish in origin..

the chancellor is a Scot

and yet English taxpayers end up forking out 80% of the bill

there's something to be said for all this...

ernest, london ,

"...the banks shareholders deserve a second chance..."
er, why exactly? If I put a bet on a horse and that horse fails to win, should the government step in and pay my stake so that I can have another go? Bank shareholders enjoyed the good times now they must endure the bad

Kev, London, UK

Everyone seems to be blaming brown for the problems with the banks, are you all forgetting that its the people at the top who get the large bonuses for doing nothing that are to blame and not brown.

James, London, England

QAlex salmond is remarkably quiet. .Had the SNP had gotten their way and Scotland had become independant , HBOS and RBS would have gone under.,It would have been just like the creation of the union once more .The Scots went bust and were bailed out. History has a habit of repeating itself !!!

malcolm , pulborough, England

How much are we buying these shares at?

Billy, Bangkok, Thailand

we boom we bust, but somehow the only speculators appear to be the tax payers? I kind of thought that if a banker speculated they would lose if it all crapped out, but it seems that no...the banker knew that if it all went wrong then they would still get their bonus and we would pick up the tab?

colin, bristol,

Capitalism exposed for the foolishness that it is!

Kevin, Twickenham,

Much as I detest Gordon Brown, I believe he is right to intervene in the banking crisis with public money. Just as the collapse of communism in 1989 showed that Marx was wrong, so this banking collapse has shown that the unfettered free market is not to be trusted. Thesis , antithesis, synthesis

jean Andrews, Staplehurst, UK

Has anyone noticed the facial similarities between Fred Goodwin and Nick Lesson - if you're in any doubt, try searching their images on Google...

Ian, Bromley, Kent

The Banks are incompetent, the government is incompetent, unfortuneately with our hard earned money. It makes me very angry but totally impotent.

Nick, Kuwait City,

"Things can only get better", they sang back in 1997. To be quite frank, if I'd have known how "things would get better", I'd have voted Conservative rather than defecting...

David Katz, London, UK

Take the medicine. It might not taste nice but it is good for you!

Ian Wells, Amersham, UK

The business model of the UK banks was not fundamentally at fault (bar the Northern Rock and those of a similar ilk where they relied on wholesale lending), it was how highly leveraged the banks were allowed to become which can be regulated by risk management etc.

Neil, London,

Its all very well for shareholders to complain now, but without UK government help, it is unlikely there would be an RBS and their shares would be worthless. Also, shareholders did not complain when their bank carried out irresponsible acts which resulted in inflated share price and huge dividends.

Andre, Frankfurt, Germany

Buy RBS share issue and save British Banking.
Don't let the government take control or they will ruin it .
Let them take HBOS.It's currently run by a shelf stacker.
RBS is the UKs first class high calibre bank. Sir Fred is committed and he won't make the same mistake twice. He has integrity.

Annabel, London, UK

I think alot are assuming its over.

If Mr Browns moved too early, he could be on his own
with a falling stock market.

You can create the liquidity, but how do you re- create a
damaged business model ? Anyone for investing in the
American Mortgage market ?

No ?

M Walker, Nr Bromsgrove., worcs.

Seeing as Goodwin was knighted for "services to banking" can we assume he will now return or have his knighthood taken away? Any decent person would be embarrassed to continue to use the title.

Edward, London,

it would seem that Mr Brown is not the guy you want to hang around with at a party but just might be the guy you want by your side in a barfight. could this be a defining moment for a political comback? very well spoken this morning.

justin, london,

Goodwin has ruined a once great company in his blinkered pursuit of ABN.

Diana, Edinburgh,

Is Brown bailing out RBS? But it should be the Scottish Gov. to do that! They want to be independent, isn't it? Ah, perhaps they want to be independent with the English money!

Peter, York, United Kingdom

Well, nothing new then, just confirming that Capitalism is the private ownership of the profits but the social responsability for the losses!

G. Lima, Boston, UK

To Maragaret in Brighton, I think that you are forgeting that RBS is a multinational banking group including the very english NatWest and directline. I am an englishman living in scotland and I have to say the scots have less of a chip on their shoulder than the people of the South East.

john, edinburgh, scotland

Margaret in Brighton - Scottish workers pay UK income tax. Get your facts right. Do you think we live in a tax haven or is is just your mistaken belief that the SE basically funds the whole of the UK? And don't assume we are all nationalists - We're not. If you want someone to blame - try the USA

Rose, Edinburgh, UK

If the government cuts bonuses at the banks it owns part of - I assume this would mean the best minds will leave those banks and move to non-government owned banks - That inspires confidence - we will be left with the worst staff of a bank that just went bust and gov minsiters- pull out your cash

Josh Burnell, Leeds,

I think all you Scots-haters down south will find that RBS has customers of all nationalities and is receiving money from all UK taxpayers .... just like Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. It is not really an appropriate time for Scots bashing is it? Or are you all so narrow minded and insular?

susan, glasgow,

Isn't this a sordid sorry state of affairs, lest not the year be 1937. The same pow'r-that-be banksters could manipulate the global proletariot ad bellum. Libertas anyone?

Angelo, Philadelphia, USA

How is it that the Royal Bank of Scotland was able to buy an American bank, Charter One Bank, and own more than a majority in its shares? I thought that a foreign bank was not legally able to do so.

Sounds like more banking hanky panky going on. Regulation was thrown to the wind.

Richard, Indianapolis, USA/Indiana

Tying bonuses to performance is misleading and what got us into this mess in first place. Effects of larger and larger bets can take some time to show up as in this case. So how is this different from what has just happened ? Or is this just to mollify the simple public ?

John Taylor, London,

Leaders around the world are facing this crisis, and for the most part, handling it as well as possible. Unfortunately, as much as we want to blame completely the current leaders, if it weren't for the fact the financial systems were flawed in the first place, this wouldn't have happened.

Nita, Inez, KY, USA

So now personal borrowing is bad but state borrowing is good. I have to admit I am a little confused! The truth seems to be that over the next several decades we will all have a large extra amount to pay in taxes to cover the interest and eventual repayment. Let inflation rip now!

Colinc, shrewsbury,

Wasn't the Act of Union in 1707 due to Scottish bankruptcy ? Seems we're back again - would Alex Salmond like to ask for idependance now ? thought not ..

Tony, Cardiff,

I'm very disappointed to hear that the Goverment will be bailing out RBS and other banks. Tesco's should be bailing out and managing these greedy merchant bankers!

At least they know how to make money and how to make it safely!

Jay Bee, birmingham, UK

Forget all this rubbish... It's Paddington Bear's 50th Birthday.

Howard Parkinson, Perth, Australia

Nice work, Gordon. Leak the plans, watch the share price collapse and take 63% of RBS for a song and stuff the existing shareholders. Where's the Stock Exchange Yellow Book? Where's the FSA? Oh. They're involved as well.........!!

Charles, Hampton Hill,

Everyone seems to have forgotten that it is us who have kept the banks going all this time anyway - our money at any rate. Now the government is giving them more of our money.

Think I'll put what's left of mine under the mattress!

Natalie, Luton, UK

All the good people will go to the USA says Mark of Berkhampstead!!

There aren't any good people Mark, that's the problem.
We are witnessing the consequences of dereliction of duty and incompetence by Directors, advisers and managers on a massive scale.

John, woodbridge,

Roy@derby. If you have shares in these banks you have gambled on a business that has failed. Accept it. The tax payer (through the govt) is offering you a lifeline. You are not in a position to make demands.

Steven, Sunderland,

This is perhaps necessary but it is also very dangerous. Everyone should be worried, not relieved. Brown has proved his preferred implementation of political policy is through the use of economic instruments and not Parliament. He now has several more to play with. Clearly more problems to come!

Dave, London,

Will Gordon Brown also be capping underperforming ministers pay? Perhaps he should ask the FSA to take a look at the reporting of the crisis by journalists such as Robert Peston to see if scare mongering by them and their 'sources' at the Treasury has contributed to the panic selling

Thommo, Cambridge, UK

re - Roger Essex. Times readers watching Zeitgeist? specially the USA ones. they will be watching Loose Change next and then where will we be?

Phil d'Astray, Piugpunyent, Spain

Mr Browns rescue plan has "probably" avoided unemployment, poverty, crime, deprivation and misery on an unprecidented scale in the western world since WW2. Well done, thats just great! And thanks for getting us to this point, we all need a little excitement! He will not be getting my vote.

des, london, UK

Surely we need to fully determine responsibility and not just blame Goodwin and Hornby.....

RBS - Deloitte
Lloyds TSB - PWC
HBOS - KPMG

Is it not time someone started asking the auditors (part of the same dubious financial community) some leading questions?

Peter, Northampton, UK

Credit is bad... When will the average bloke learn?

Derek, Tucson,

It's as though Brown has driven a bus full of passengers into a brick wall and now he is gloating how well he dealt with the chaos and mayhem that ensued rather than explaining how he caused the bus to crash in the first place.

David Stewart, Cambridge, UK

MacKillop and Goodwin of the RBS are a disgrace, and the most incompetent pair ever to lead a public company. All that is required in banking is a knowledge of simple arithmetic, and they do not even have that, Their behaviour over the recent rights issue is fraudulent and merits a time in jail.

M Reid, Canberra, Australia

Will someone tell me where Brown is getting the billions from to nationalise our banks? The country is broke in spite of his in the last 10 years increasing personal taxes, stealth taxes, creaming off petrol tax,raiding our pensions to the tune of £5+ billion a year,and selling Gold at the bottom.

john, kouvola, finland

'Bretton Woods' - isn't that the plan that fixed currencies against the US reserves of gold that collapsed in 1971, leaving the United States to all intents and purposes insolvent when it reneged on its agreements?

Rick, Manchester,

sophie smith....have you noticed by any chance this is a global financial problem and not just a british one? do you really think britain could be immune from all this!

Mike, Poole,

Agree with Steve - hyperinflation in about 24 months. Accessorily, house prices will be forced seriously down now that largest mortgage lenders are all state-backed - income multiples and LTVs will be watched by bank boards.

Ava, London,

This will only help the rich in the long term - the poor will suffer as theier will be more taxes and yet the re-distrubution of wealth that occurs in a capitalist system by people going bust and others taking up a market position has been stopped - so the rich stay rich and the poor poor

Josh Burnell, Leeds,

This long overdue curtailment of fat cat bonuses, mostly totally undeserved and unearned, is music to my ears. Don't stop there though hop into the private sector where there's a plethora of overpaid incompetent CEO's. Make them squirm and squeak and we'll all listen to the music of comeuppance.

Len, Perth, Australia

Make the law firms who facilitated these deals pay also. They knew this risk taking spelled disaster, whether they admit it or not. They should offer their services to the Government at no charge. Maybe then they'll be more likely to discourage their clients from behaving irresponsibly in future.

John Y, Northill,

The housing bubble's still deflating, personal borrowing is maxed out, gov spending is going to be heavily cut, exports will drop, and our finance sector will shrink significantly due to new regulations. We're still in for a recession, guys. This big fix isn't a cure; it's a life support machine.

Tim, Edinburgh,

There's a certain irony in seeing Sir Fred shred himself, especially for the many who have lost their jobs or suffered under his 'leadership'.

David , Paddock Wood , England

"the three banks participating in the scheme – Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), HBOS and Lloyds TSB – have agreed to scrap boardroom bonuses for the current year.."

Err no.. He said 'cash bonuses' - watch for the share options.

Now comes the HYPERINFLATION... Do they really not understand economics?!

Mark, Birmingham, UK

Comrade Brown has world Socialism in his sights.

Perry Ford, Wirral, UK

With one swift move Labour has shown its true colours. Nationalise everything as every industry is ailing. No time-table on reprivatisation, it appears, Gordon.

Hard to tell Russia and Asian economies to open their border given communist mentality that runs Britain today.

Prabhat, UK,

Love it. Apparently 'greed' is responsible. Its like Thatcher telling us that crime was down to 'evil'. It avoids any intelligent analysis and appeals to some crude social prejudice.

Go on Gordon - cap salaries. Play ConstituencGC politics. Good people will just go to Private Equity or the US.

Mark, Berkhamsted,

DAMN AND BLAST!
I really didn't want them to do this....if RBS and HBOS had been allowed to collapse, that would have been my credit cards sorted!

Ah well, at least I now have some ammo for the next time they try to lecture me on managing my finances!

tim, warwick,

When Nick Leason lost millions he was fired. Gordon Brown is happy to see the boss of RBS lose his job having only been it for 3 years

GB has been in charge of the Economy for the past 11 years has to take some resonsibility for the present crisis.

Is he going to resign?

I doubt it.

Guy Knight, Chichester, West Sussex

So basically RBS is being nationalised because they overspent in buying ABN AMRO. wouldn't it be better to just sell RBS's stake in ABN AMRO instead of asking the taxpayer to foot the bill? And please let's rename the bank as Royal Bank of England!

Paolo, Milan,

So Mr Brown will sell the bank shares when the banks become profitable and the share price is high? Good idea. And our gold reserves - when will he sell them?!

Mike, Bristol, UK,

Those who think the market does not need this package are deluded; the fact that Europe and America are set to follow should not only mark this initiative out as the right thing to do to ensure stability, but offers an opportunity for the UK to set the terms of furture debate on regulatory reform.

David Marusza, Cardiff, Wales

This bail-out is about Brow. He believes that he is Churchill and his hour has cometh. This is a plan and not the most sophisticated: pumping billions of pounds of other peoples' money . Not his personal largess although he acts as if were. Where is the money coming from? Browns's UK Plc is bankrupt

Karen, London, uk

When do we get the chance to kick out Gordon as the guy who took over a year since Northern Rock to understand the inderlying issues. Yes Gordon - you created this mess over ten years when you were the Head of the Treasury.

Richard, London, UK

No anger just relief. A well thought out plan that should get the markets moving again and we can all get on with our lives rather than worrying about sensationalist global meltdown/ 1930's reprtoing. Suppose its time to start worrying about climate change, MRSA, hoodies and chicken flu again.

Peter, Tiverton,

As a long term taxpayer I am going to apply for a special rate bank loan from the RBS. I shall then do my best to stimulate the economy . I can't do any worse than those who have created this problem and who should be indentified and dealt with accordingly.

Rodney Barker, Gainsborough, England UK

This may seem a good idea now but in a couple of years just wait for hyperinflation to arrive and bite us on the behind. You thinks its bad now, just wait until you are paying £20 for a loaf of bread.

Steve, Hatfield, UK

Before we hand over any money to Barclays remember they are offering $2.4 billion in bonuses to the failed US bankers as part of their takeover of Lehman Brothers - I hope Brown puts a stop on this.

John, Aberdeen, Scotland

Why do we have to put any money into 'the system' ?- we're actually funding public companies - the money has not vanished it's just that bankers don't want to lend it! They want make a profit and pay themselves bonuses! Sorry - it's the banks which should be funding this bailout with their assets!

Neil, Ipswich, UK

I wonder if our Scottish PM and Scottish chancellor would have been so enthusiastic in pumping taxpayer's (mostly English) money into these two banks if they weren't based in Scotland and employ lots of Scottish Labour voters.
So much for Scottish banking skills!

david batie, Stocksfield, uk

Let us not forget the FSA's role in this debacle, are they going to pick up their bonuses as usual? Will we ever know?Amongst the resignations I would have thought that there should be some from this (supposed) regulator who surely don't even deserve their salaries for sleeping on the job!
Steve,UK

Stephen Glover, Chorley, England

Having lost RBS so much money isn't it unfair that Fred Goodwin leaves with an £8 million pension fund which will pay him £500k per year? As an RBS customer I say yes, it is unfair!
In the end, this along with other "perks" will be paid for one way or another by customers and tax payers.

Neil Johnston, Verona, Italy

Sophie Smith - lets look at the last 3 recessions -
74 Heath
81 Thatcher
91-Thatcher/Major/Lamont.

I wouldnt shout too much about tory economic success - nobody else is.

david devonport, Great Yarmouth, UK

To quote: Nicholas Iles, Oswestry

"Why do we complain when our government buys good quallity banks at bargain basement prices".

Good quality banks? ! You mean insolvent recognised brands of old don't you?

If they are only solvent through gov't intervention they ain't solvent - simple.

Mark, Birmingham, UK

So the Royal Bank of Scotland has been bailed out by the English tax payer ,
Time for a name change then, Royal Bank of England signs above the the banks doors in Scotland should halt the nationalists?

Margaret, Brighton, uk

Instead of reading the papers on such matters I advise that everyone googles the Zeit giest and watched the free movie. There are 2. Please watch the most recent one first but also watch the original one. They are both over 2 hours long but bare with them. They explain the underlying issues we have!

Roger, Essex, UK

Bankers and politicians have known for a long time that our borrowing (UK and US) was totally unsustainable but nobody had the nerve to call time. We live in a society where positive talk is the only valid currency everything has to be "bigged up" but we live in a finite world. This is the result

edward, solihull, uk

As the man on the silly TV advert says" this goes deeper, much deeper". What needs to be examined is the creation and trading of incredibly complex financial instruments such as Credit swap Derivatives.
These packages are the ultimate in smoke and mirrors and they alone can destroy the world economy

Laurence, Hampton,

Brown sat on his hands and raked in the cash while house prices got higher and higher. He wants us to think he has a great financial mind....he sits in the pockets of foreign millionaires and non-doms. He said he was completely unaware of cash for peerages...I never believed him - does anyone now?

Janice, London,

should you forget-the idea is -we give our money to the banks and they pay us to use it-if we choose to take out the money and keep it somewhere in cash without growth -we take a risk as it might be stolen-imagine if we were to take out all of our savings tomorrow-together-then what Gordon ???

Keith Skelton , Colombo , Sri Lanka

If this is such a good idea why aren't the Hedge Funds buying in?

Mike, Sole Street, England

Mr Brown's day of reckoning for his time as Chancellor.

He was responsible for ensuring the countries finances were correctly regulated.

Mike, Sole Street, England

Yes, why so many comments from the US, all the present problems have originated from the US - but one word sums everything up and that is GREED!! Maybe if people thought less about making a quick profit we would all be in a better position. As to Fred Goodwin HMS Prison is the best option.

Lynne Harrington, Brentwood, Essex, UK

Intelligent banks! Look where their intelligence has taken us. I think the truth is: UK should now leave "intelligent" banks.

John, Leeds,

Perhaps the Times should take a reality check instead of regurgitating Labour breifings
Fact 1 is that Fred Goodwin resigned, he wasnt 'axed'
Fact 2 is that the Government are NOT taking a majority shareholding of RBS, on £ 5 billion pounds worth of capital

Edward, Newbury, UK

What price Scottish independence now Mr Salmond?

ross , Luton ,BEDS.., England

I've had accounts with Lloyds TSB for more than 40 years but swore that I would close them if I ever have the financial strength to do so.
I'm no longer waiting to pass the threshold. Barclays will quickly fund the funds from the intake of new customers.

Paul, Wellingborough, UK

Keep Sir Fred! - if anyone thinks Stephen Hester is going to be any better I suggest you look at British Land's recent share price.

David Allan, London, UK

We missed our chance to declare independence from Scotland. Perhaps Alex Salmond will do us a favour and press ahead with his referendum. I am sure the Scottish taxpayer won't mind picking up the bill. Or perhaps you need us more than you thought?

james, essex,

Heaven help the Tories when they take the reins. Like all previous Labour Governments the next Government has to pick up the pieces. And yes, I foolishlly voted for them!

sophie smith, london, uk

fred goodwin should be banned from working in the banking sector ever again

alan, london, uk

Greed for ever higher quarterly dividends and share price rise has fuelled this fiasco.

The Treasury should now show the bank bosses who is the real boss and heads should roll wholesale in banks like RBS.

The entire senior management has proven its incompetence and should be shown the door.

KJR, Hastings,

Nick Leeson went to jail for bringing down 1 bank.
The actions of the banking ruling class have brought the world down. Real people will starve as a result of their actions; motivated by greed, and contempt for others.

Sitting on the Naughty step is NOT enough, resignation is NOT enough.

Pat, Coromandel, NZ

They should be made to sell and then leaseback their, 'OUR' freehold properties when the market permits, with the revenue raised to return taxpayers money.

Gino Francesco, Hastings,

Told you it would all end in tears.

Fidel, Havana, Cuba

"..chief falls on his sword", or how about:

"..chief fall broken by a big fat wad of money"

or

"Chief bounces back: fall averted by over sized capitalist clown shoes"

A lot of confused capitalists about at the moment (that worring).

cajones, shanghai, china

This bank should now be renamed as the English Bank, as thats where most of the rescue money has come from!

paul, london,

Are the FAT CATS of these collapsing banks handing back the gross bonuses paid to reward them for failure. Now that could be described as integrity, wouldn't it!!

Malcolm Crow, Dundee,

A blatant disaster for the taxpayer and the investor - I for one will not participate in any of these share issues where any government control is involved as it is clear these banks will not be operated commercially but as a social service, Intelligent banks should now leave the UK.

Richard, Newton Abbot,

He still gets a £500,000 pension. He will join the ranks of thousands of other bankers sitting on their nest eggs of stolen money, and indifferent to the rest of us struggling to cope with the results of their larceny.

Simone Millet, Cambridge , UK

Rick from London:

Bang on. So much for the end of boom and bust! I didn't buy it in 1997 and I'm glad it's come back to haunt Brown.

Jonathon Staples, Cardiff, United Kingdom

H M The Queen banks with RBS (through Coutts - established 1692) - I wonder what she has to say about this whole fiasco. Is her money safe, I wonder?

Don , Highgate, London

There are two very simple options, support the banks either as a taxpayer or a shareholder, or let them fail and allow the country slip into depression with all the economic and social hardships that will entail. This is not the end of capitalism, but a short term blip in the course of history.

Aaron, Cambridge, UK

Apparently the reason for the banks having problems is runaway debt and the implementation of regulatory control. In the last eleven years there has been one man in charge of both these criteria in the UK, Gordon Brown.

So his message to the rest of the world is follow me! I screwed it up in the UK and now have moved closer to total control.

Ian, Reading, England

I don't understand why the banks are being forced to maintain mortgage lending at 2007 levels. Surely this process of deleveraging and reducing house prices is a good thing in the long term?

Rahul, London,

No Steve Goodfellow, Chelmsford, Essex - it is British help. The Northern Irish and the Welsh pay taxes too. If Holyrood has no say in the matter then why should they pipe up? I suspect the Scots would have let RBS/HBOS go to the wall - nationalise one central BOS and float the Halifax back to Eng

billy, Cardiff, Wales

Please sell the shares of ABN AMRO. RBS should focus on the British market. Please RBS, be a man and admit that the take over was a mistake.

Tony, london,

The cash needs to go in if the whole financial sytem and our society, is not to descend into chaos & anarchy. Do you not realise what real trouble we're in?

That said, 'no cash bonuses this year'... Where are the sackings? Why any bonus cash or otherwise when they have bankrupted the businesses?!

Mark, Birmingham, UK

I thought the pointg of this rescue was that government wouldn't own the banks but take preference shares. Now we are being told the govt will take shares. So does one of Gordon Brown's cronies get board seats on British banks now? ANother quango ?

Neil Murphy, cromer,

Well done Brown Darling your scheme to protect savers and shareholders was well thought out with the rest of the World following. The other plus is the death of Thatcherism and the unregulated market.Cameron will again have to do some more policy u turns with Osborne who did not support the plan.

Bill Rees, Truro, UK

BANKERS BONUS, S
This is the kettle calling the pot black ... Lord mandelson has just walked away with a million pound pay off from Europe and GB..
Perhaps the bankers could regulate the M P's pay and expenses...
Vince Cable was right in his questioning of Brown HE IS THE ONLY ONE I TRUST

Andy Cappell, Radstock Bath, England.

What on earth is the Board of Lloyds TSB doing accepting these terms? It should scrub the HBOS takeover and go to its own shareholders for the money it needs.

Richard, Newton Abbot,

When you read this it sounds OK. bearing in mind most readers do not own shares in these banks

There is going to be big profits for the UK Taxpayer. Well I am one of these! Are not you?

In 3 + years the privatisation of these banks will be amazingly profitable for the tax payer, I will buy in

Nicholas Iles, Oswestry, Shropshire, United Kingdom

A simple person understands when enough is enough and never goes hungry for authentic counseling by a higher power; whoever or whatever they deem that to be. However, a person who does not know when to stop consuming will always go hungry for more and more. This type of person will always be in want

Michael Levy, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

I don't know what to say. It's ..... incredible, unimaginable, incomprehensible, unforgivable.
Let's fix it.
Let hold accountable, who is (this is financial terrorism after all).
Let's make sure it never, ever happens again.

Henry, Notts,

Let me get this right.
RBS share value at close of play Friday is 11.8b so the government (yes small g) buys for 20billion with tax payers money!
Is this to protect the Scottish Labour vote?
Interesting.

Peter H, Auckland,

Evolution is innovation - but it is blind, and cannot see what the long term consequences of any evolutionary changes are. The role of our government is to weed out the harmful mutations in the financial system so that only the beneficial adaptations remain. This is where Brown et al failed us.

Tim, Edinburgh,

If all the money rich countrys have been rushing to invest in banks at super historiclly high prices

Why do we complain when our government buys good quallity banks at bargain basement prices

The volume of stock bought means they are the market makers in control, they cannot fail over time.

Nicholas Iles, Oswestry, Shropshire, United Kingdom

Keep the hope on Government, support them now! Any more bank go under, our money and saving will vanish without trace!!!

Alex yu, Glasgow, UK

Sir Fred Goodwin should have left the deal between Barclays Bank, and its European partner alone.Had he done so, he would not be in this mess now.He wanted it all, now he lost it all. This should serve as a lesson to those who put they nose where it does not belong, you may lose it as he has.

Jeffrey Churchill, Pierrefonds, Quebec. CANADA

They shouldn't lend; The cash will just disperse Internationally - they should just guarantee depositors funds - no runs, but no more. They've missed the plot. The money will get lent then be snapped up on CDS defaults.

Andrew J Iddon, London, UK

Sure, shareholders don't want a 'bullying approach' - they want to make huge profits at the expense of the smaller customer whose savings are threatened by the shareholder/board's greed in the past. Well done to the PM for standing up to them and supporting people like me whose cash is at risk!

june , Liverpool, UK

they enjoying state control action guess!!!
No one can think with other action to solve all this problem?

However, we should say good bye capitalism and welcom islamism

bamarouf, birmingham, uk

The SNP and S.Parliament are curiously quiet on "English" help if the RBS needs help let the Scots fund it.

Steve Goodfellow, Chelmsford, Essex

This is how freedom ends. Despite a history of failure so blatant that only a politician or an intellectual can defend it, Socialism is alive and well. In the "free" countries it used to be that a "liberal" would bow their heads in shame, now they carry themselves proudly. We are witnessing the end.

Lance, Atlanta, United States

So throwing more of our taxes at insolvent banks is going to restore trust in the banking system, is it?

Paul, Coventry,

Bush only has 100 days left, so its important for the administration to keep the ship of state afloat long enough to man the lifeboats. I dont blame Bush, I think this has been the objective all along. Once they nationalize the banks, the taxpayer has no decision about what happens to his money.

HOWARD HOFELICH, Kailua Kona, USA

Scotts/Muslims? How about the Jews?!? As for Paleolithic capitalism? Perhaps for the Flintstones, but that was a cartoon As far as I know they didnt actually have any stone cars,drive-ins etc. (As BBCs Peston hints) if your looking for someone/thing to blame; mmm.. how about Thatcherism?

cajones, shanghai, China

Suspect the outcome to be Prudence(joke) Brown and Darling
bailing out two scottish banks.Cronyism?Will someone enlighten me how these banks are going to compete fairly

rogerb, bridport,

If people aren't Libertarian yet, then their future as chattel is sealed.

Enoch Root, Virginia, USA

Strange that people seem to think buying shares is socialism. I don't think Lenin would have done that - get real people.

Peter, London,

Everyone has to agree that it was a race who was going to fail first the communist system or the capitalist system. The communist system failed first , now it is the Thatcher & Reegan capitalism that is collapsing. This proves that we need a mixed economy system the best system.Labour can do it.

n, LARNACA, CYPRUS

Halifax Bank of SCOTLAND, Royal Bank of SCOTLAND, Yet another attempt by our Scottish Prime Minister to save his and his party's skin in Scotland, and thus maintain control of Engalnd as well. Disgusting.

Peter, Genova, Italy

Sensible economists in the US see the British plan as the model the US should follow. They bitterly criticize "Hankypank" Paulson for wasting so much time on his silly scheme simply to buy toxic assets from banks at taxpayer expense.

Hal, Tucson,

We are being urged to buy shares in all British banks, and so we should since now they can only go up. However what about Northern Rock, which fell off the government's learning curve? Isn't it now essential that NR's shares be swiftly given a valuation and be open to this same buying spree?

Patrock, Tain, Scotland

No rescues for the coal, steel, power, car and manufacturing industries generally. These people should be publicly identified and shamed. THEY SHOULD BE LEFT TO FAIL ALONG WITH THE SYSTEM THEY HAVE PERPETUATED.

Pariah's the lot of em.

Matthew Taylor, Brisbane, Australia

Interesting -both Scottish banks ,scottish prime minister (and cohorts) Seems like devolution would be a much cheaper alternative

Nicolas Blake, hitchin, england

Savers' cash moved to new offshore countries due to the EU savings' directive. Until that absolutist spy &