UK hopes to profit from bank rescue

The British government still hopes to make a profit from its multi-billion-pound rescue of major British banks during the financial crisis, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday.

Speaking at a campaign-style event before an election that must be held by June, Brown also made several arguments about why it would not be appropriate for Britain to swap its pound for the euro single currency at present.

Finance Minister Alistair Darling also told The Scotsman newspaper in an interview published yesterday that Britain was not considering adopting US President Barack Obama's proposal for a levy on banks to repay taxpayers for bailouts.

"What we are trying to do with the banks is to make sure that we do not pay anything – and this is the same as Obama – for the rescue of the banks, so we get all the money back," Brown said in answer to a question at a conference organised by the Fabian Society, a centre-left thinktank.

"In the budget we changed our figures because we believe that we will get more back from the banks and probably make a profit," he said. "Our aim is that no member of the public has to pay for the rescuing of the banks."

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