Lord Mandelson's change of heart
The very personal and very public attack on Bob Diamond, the president of Barclays Bank, by Lord Mandelson is still top news in the UK although history shows that his current view is very different than the one which he expressed some years ago. Lord Mandelson is quoted as saying "I have nothing wrong with people getting filthy stinking rich, as long as they pay their taxes ". So why is Barclays bank currently public enemy number one with the UK government?
Despite the fact that Barclays Bank did not directly accept UK government funding at the height of the banking crisis it did benefit from significant taxpayer funding which was injected into the money markets. As a consequence, the return to the pre-credit crunch bonus rates at this stage of the economic cycle is obviously something the UK government was keen to avoid. However, the truth is that the banking sector has been bailed out yet again and taxpayers are still awaiting repayment of their significant investment into the markets while many in the financial industry are "rolling in it".
Whether the attack by Lord Mandelson is justified on nothing but a political smokescreen to prevent other subjects and matters from being discussed is open to debate but this does nothing to cement an ongoing relationship between the UK government and the financial sector.
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