Madam, – When people such as Anthony Leavy (November 2nd) refer to “the banks” that should be held responsible for their debts, do they realise what they are talking about?
The banks were owned by the shareholders and are now, largely, owned by the taxpayer. The original owners have lost virtually all their investments so should they be held responsible? If not them, should the senior management be held to account? Those who claim “the bankers” should be jailed need to specify which criminal law was broken. If greed and stupidity are criminal offences, a lot of jails will be required. And who would be the jailers?
The Government must bear the brunt of the blame for a total lack of regulation.
But we also have a national parliament which sat on its collective arse and feathered its nest while the boom was booming and the skulduggery was rampant. Not a squeak out of any of them.
The claim that under our parliamentary system all power lies with the government is rubbish. The Constitution allows Opposition parties to initiate and amend legislation.
When it comes to the vote they might not have the numbers to get it over the line but it would show the people where they are coming from.
It would have given them a decent leg to stand on and their present whingeing and ranting at the Government would have some validity. – Yours, etc,