The clean up should begin at the top

This week, we have seen Lehman collapse, AIG receive a mega-bailout, and HBOS rolled into Lloyds. Share prices around the world have crashed, while the FSA has banned short selling. Meanwhile, the world's central banks are injecting unimaginable amounts of liquidity to shore up crumbing bank balance sheets. The price of oil is tumbling, it is impossible to keep track of the downgrades and there are profit warnings everywhere. It is still only Thursday.

In the midst of this chaos, our dear leader - Mr. Brooooon - steps forward and pledges to clean up the city. This is what he told the BBC:

"I think we've got to look at where there has been irresponsible behaviour and I've said for some time that we need reforms in the system. I believe there's now an audience that agrees with me that we should do more. We've got to clean up the financial system, we don't want these problems recurring in the future."

Irresponsible behaviour? The search should start with him. He was the magician that created the Financial Services Agency. It incompetently allowed UK banks to pump a billion gazillion pounds into the housing market and created the bubble that now threatens to take down the UK financial system.

As chancellor, he sat back and collected all that stamp duty that the housing bubble churned up. He happily collected the tax revenues as the banks and their obscenely paid staff grew rich on the housing misery created by years of easy credit. With false pride, he claimed to create an economic miracle, which was paid for by a hideous mountain of debt. He neglected the UK's manufacturing sector, unsustainably increased public expenditure and did nothing to rein in the UK's massive current account deficit.

So, he is calling for a clean up: it should start with him. Perhaps, his socialist comrades could take out the brush at the upcoming Labour party conference and sweep him away.