Who says state subsidies have gone out of fashion? British taxpayers generously gave Britain’s biggest banks £38 billion last year. At the same time, the financial services sector has, since 2007, halved the corporation tax it pays – to just £6.5 billion last year.
So those who caused the crisis have done very well out of it, out of us. We take the losses; they take the gains. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Iceland’s book. Four Icelandic bankers whose misconduct helped cause the 2008 crash have been jailed for up to five years. ■