Northern Rock scandal costs Oldham Borough taxpayers £273 million

3.57.00pm GMT Mon 18th Feb 2008

Elwyn Watkins is worried that the government is throwing our money down the drain

Responding to the decision by the Government to nationalise Northern Rock, Elwyn Watkins, Parliamentary Spokesperson for Oldham East & Saddleworth, said:

"To put this into some sort of scale, this is enough to paper the whole of Oldham with fivers. Obviously a lot of the money would go down the drain, but I fear that is exactly what will happen with this due to the dithering by Gordon Brown.

"This decision was inevitable but should have been taken months ago, when it would have cost us less. Instead, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have been paralysed by their own indecision. They put off the only sensible course of action right until the very end. This is hardly a sensible way to run the Government.

"Had Labour followed the advice of Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable last year, the uncertainty that has been so damaging to Northern Rock and to the British economy would have been avoided.

"The Conservative proposal that Northern Rock should be put into administration and run down would be a disaster. Not only would this not get taxpayers money back any faster but it would be the one way to guarantee that every single job at the bank would be lost. Temporary nationalisation will not be easy for Northern Rock, but it at least offers hope that the bank can have a long-term future and eventually be sold when conditions are better."