Op-Ed: More free money for Britain's banks

Who says money is tight? The Bank of England has just announced plans to give away billons of pounds in cheap credit. The bad news is that this money is all going to the banks.

The BBC has reported - among many others - on this move. You can find Auntie Beeb's report here, and if you want to read Mervyn King's speech, the Bank of England has published it already. His address was made to a gathering of fat cats at the Mansion House in the City of London last night. The bottom line is that the Bank of England - over which Sir Mervyn presides - is going to give billions of pounds to the banks, and tell them to lend it to businesses. And if they don't? This is beyond the sleight of hand known as quantitative easing, but the end result will be the same, the banks will get richer while the rest of the economy, or most of it, is starved of money. Meanwhile, life on the street is tough even for big companies. Take a look at this website, of the Croydon store Allders. Nice merchandise, isn't it? Good quality. Chances are if you click on this link this time next year or even this time next month, it won't be there, because the high class retailer has just gone into administration in its 150th year of trading. An estimated 300 jobs are at risk. If you think the banksters will extend its overdraft, think again.