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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Brown: We'll protect bank savings | Brown: We'll protect bank savings |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister Gordon Brown has told the BBC that he will do "whatever it takes" to protect people's savings. | Prime Minister Gordon Brown has told the BBC that he will do "whatever it takes" to protect people's savings. |
| Moves to guarantee bank deposits up to £50,000 - compared with the current £35,000 limit - are expected shortly. | |
| He declined to offer an unlimited guarantee, as has happened in Ireland, but pointed out the government had not let any UK depositor lose out. | He declined to offer an unlimited guarantee, as has happened in Ireland, but pointed out the government had not let any UK depositor lose out. |
| He said with Northern Rock, HBOS and Bradford & Bingley they had taken action to protect people's savings. | |
| The Irish government has made an emergency decision to guarantee the safety of all deposits in six of its main savings institutions for two years. | |
| Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has called for a similar "copper bottomed" guarantee for British bank customers that all their savings and deposits are safe. | |
| Under current rules in the UK, only the first £35,000 of an individual's money is fully protected should a bank collapse. | |
| But Mr Brown told the BBC that the government had intervened where necessary and no depositors had yet lost money. | |
| He said: "Wherever there has been a problem, Northern Rock guaranteed the deposits of those people who were saving with Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley safeguarded the deposits by moving them to Abbey National, Halifax Bank of Scotland moved them to Lloyds TSB. | |
| "Wherever there has been a problem we have intervened and dealt with it. Let's remember, the Irish are dealing with taxpayers' money here. | |
| "We have got to get what's right and also what's reasonable and of course we look at every intervention that is necessary to take but I think people can see from our actions so far that depositors have been protected. No UK depositor has lost money." | |
| BBC political editor Nick Robinson said ministers faced a dilemma over guaranteeing bank deposits, as they could either reassure the public or send the wrong signal. | |
| Raising the limit on guaranteed deposits to £50,000 would not require new legislation and could just be announced by the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority. | |
| The FSA is consulting on the increase to £50,000, which is likely to be implemented fairly soon. |