This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8618974.stm
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Brown admits mistake over banks | Brown admits mistake over banks |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Gordon Brown has admitted he made a mistake in not introducing tougher bank regulation when he was chancellor. | Gordon Brown has admitted he made a mistake in not introducing tougher bank regulation when he was chancellor. |
| The PM - chancellor from 1997 to 2007 -said that in the 1990s the banks had all been calling for less regulation. | The PM - chancellor from 1997 to 2007 -said that in the 1990s the banks had all been calling for less regulation. |
| "And actually the truth is that globally and nationally we should have been regulating them more," he said in an interview on ITV1's Tonight. | "And actually the truth is that globally and nationally we should have been regulating them more," he said in an interview on ITV1's Tonight. |
| He said he should have put the "whole public interest" before the banks but had "learnt" from the experience. | He said he should have put the "whole public interest" before the banks but had "learnt" from the experience. |
| 'Complaints' | 'Complaints' |
| Mr Brown said: "In the 1990s, the banks, they all came to us and said, 'Look, we don't want to be regulated, we want to be free of regulation'." | Mr Brown said: "In the 1990s, the banks, they all came to us and said, 'Look, we don't want to be regulated, we want to be free of regulation'." |
| "All the complaints I was getting from people was, 'Look you're regulating them too much'. And actually the truth is that globally and nationally we should have been regulating them more," he added. | "All the complaints I was getting from people was, 'Look you're regulating them too much'. And actually the truth is that globally and nationally we should have been regulating them more," he added. |
| "So I've learnt from that. So you don't listen to the industry when they say, 'This is good for us'. You've got to talk about the whole public interest." | "So I've learnt from that. So you don't listen to the industry when they say, 'This is good for us'. You've got to talk about the whole public interest." |
| Every time you make a decision about troop deployments with generals, you've got to bear in mind that these are decisions about people's lives Gordon Brown | |
| Mr Brown also admitted, as he has done previously, that the decision to scrap the 10 pence rate of tax had been a mistake. | Mr Brown also admitted, as he has done previously, that the decision to scrap the 10 pence rate of tax had been a mistake. |
| He said: "I've learnt a lot from that, I learn all the time." | He said: "I've learnt a lot from that, I learn all the time." |
| But the prime minister said it is the situation in Afghanistan that keeps him awake at night. | |
| He told ITV: "I've been very worried about what's happening in Afghanistan because we've got to make very difficult decisions and every time you make a decision about troop deployments with generals, you've got to bear in mind that these are decisions about people's lives." | |
| He also said he hoped he did not intimidate people. | |
| "I hope I'm not intimidating, I hope I am the opposite, I hope I am willing to listen and willing to learn. And then I'll go back and I'll make up my mind and say 'this is what we do now'." | |
| Mr Brown added: "I think I'd like people to know that I was compassionate, because I do feel strongly about children in particular... I'd like to be known as a children's champion." | |
| But he also acknowledged that he is "not so good" at the PR side of politics. |