Financial Markets

Surely the purpose of taking public control of a bank should not merely be to stabilise it before returning it to the private sector? Should it not also be to tackle the fundamental causes of the present turmoil by changing the banking system's approach to speculative trading and to the use of hedge funds, derivatives, offshore accounting and securitisation, as well as to the obscure reporting of corporate risk and sometimes dodgy auditing? Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the £50 billion of taxpayers' money will not be used purely to fund the bankers, and that it will be used to change the malign banking practices that have brought us to this pass?