UK bailout - £1 trillion - we deserve it

As I read this article from today's telegraph, one question kept cropping up. "Who is responsible for this disaster?" Just take note of the numbers, which I have highlighted:

In an attempt to restore confidence within the financial sector, the Treasury will tell the banks of its plan on Saturday. It aims to announce details of the rescue package publicly early next week. The bad bank plan has climbed the political agenda in the past couple of weeks as the Government has become aware of the extent of the lenders' bad debts.

Sources said that a bad bank would have to take on about £200 billion of toxic assets. That would take the Government's total commitment to solving the banking crisis to almost £1 trillion in taxpayers' money that has either been spent or pledged. That equates to about £33,000 per taxpayer. The total sum is equivalent to more than two-thirds of Britain's annual GDP of £1.4 trillion.

Two-thirds of UK GDP is now on the line. That is the current price tag for years of reckless lending and housing speculation. It is a staggering, scarcely believable amount of money.

The easy thing would be to hang the blame for this mess on the hapless leader and former Chancellor - Mr Brown, but that would be too easy. In truth, we are all to blame for this catastrophe. Collectively, we allowed the New Labour, the Bank of England, the FSA, speculators, banks, estate agents, property rampers and BTL chancers to grotesquely inflate house prices and destroy our financial system.

Perhaps it is right that the bill is placed unto the public sector. At least, we can be sure that we will all end up paying.