Reino Unido 30 anos depois: estarao as nacionalizacoes de volta?

Todos os tabloides britanicos de hoje 18 de Fevereiro tem na sua capa a noticia da nacionalizacao do Northern Rock, um banco que declarou falencia ha sensivelmente seis meses.





Com efeito, o Ministro das Financas britanico, Alistair Darling, afirmou hoje em conferencia de imprensa que 'nao teve sucesso na procura de uma empresa qe aceitasse gerir o banco'. na sequencia da decisao o ministro esta sob fortes criticas do sector banqueiro britanico por ter decidido nacionalizar o falido banco Northern Rock.

Volvidos seis meses de consultas, o Alistair Darling afirmou que nao conseguiu encontrar alguma empresa que fizesse uma oferta de compra sustentavel e credivel. Espera-se um grande furor no parlamento britanico esta semana, uma vez que a ecisao traz de volta os apetites 'socialistas dos anos 1970, quando varias empressas publicas foram nacionalizadas.

O conglomerado Virgin, do multimilionario Richard Branson, havia apresentado uma proposta de compra que pelos vistos e contra todas as expectativas foi rejeitada, apesar dos comentarios optimistas do empresario durante a sua visita a China e India na companhia do primeiro Ministro Britanico, Gordon Brown.



George Osborne, o Ministro das Financas Sombra, afirmou que a demora na tomada de decisao mostra que a era da competencia do partido trabalhista terminou! tendo argumentado que esta decisao tardia significava que o publico em geral pagaria a fatura do risco do emprestimo de mais de 100 bilioes de libras!




Para mais detalhes, viagemos na companhia do Phillip Inmac, Larry Elliot e David henke do The Guardian

Chancellor Alistair Darling, discusses his decision to nationalise Northern Rock at a news conference in central London, February 17 2008.






The chancellor, Alistair Darling, moved to end six months of turmoil over the fate of Northern Rock yesterday when he admitted his efforts to find a buyer for the stricken bank had failed and he was forced into the first nationalisation of a British company since the 1970s.
With Labour desperate to minimise the political fallout from the decision, government sources insisted that a "temporary" period of public ownership did not represent its "Black Wednesday moment" but was the best outcome for the taxpayer.
Opposition parties were, however, quick to exploit the chancellor's embarrassment after he used a press conference at the Treasury to admit that the failure of talks with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group - the preferred private bidder - had left the government with no alternative.
Darling and the prime minister, Gordon Brown, had previously described this as the "least favourable option". Since it emerged five months ago that Northern Rock had sought help from the Bank of England, it has relied on £55bn of taxpayers' guarantees to stay in business.
Darling said: "At the end of the day the biggest issue is the safeguarding of taxpayers' money. If nationalisation saves that money, that has to be the correct step in the long term." He defended his handling of the crisis, saying the collapse of the bank was the fault of its directors. The government only stepped in to prevent a domino effect in the industry, he said.
"I would have been quite wrong to do this last September. It was right to allow the board of the bank and the shareholders time to see if a private sector solution could be found. It was absolutely right to explore all the possibilities."
Shadow chancellor George Osborne accused Brown of "dithering" over the decision and said yesterday was the day "Labour's reputation for economic competence died". "The taxpayer will bear the risk of lending £100bn of mortgages in an uncertain market. We will not back nationalisation. We will not help Gordon Brown take this country back to the 1970s."
Ron Sandler, the "company doctor" appointed as Northern Rock's executive director said the business would be slimmed down to a "more sustainable size" but would not comment on what that means in terms of potential job losses.
The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, who had campaigned for the bank to be nationalised, said the right decision had finally been made. "This is the option the Liberal Democrats have argued for, unlike the Tories who have no alternative to offer. The first priority must be to work out the seriousness of the problems at the bank with an independent audit of its loan book. Secondly, the bank must stop irresponsible lending and aggressive deposit-taking. Thirdly, there will be difficult times ahead, especially for the employees, as the bank is downsized. However, there is now hope for the long-term future of the bank when it is eventually sold in more satisfactory conditions," he said.
Cabinet colleagues were rallying round Darling last night, saying the crisis had been handled well, given the turmoil on global markets, and it showed Darling was prepared to make difficult decisions.
The prime minister's spokesman rejected the idea that this was Labour's Black Wednesday - when the Tory government had to pull the pound out of the European exchange rate mechanism. "That was an intervention that failed. This was an intervention that succeeded."
No 10 said it had been a commercial decision taken after full evaluation of the options. "This is not a political decision. It was taken in the best interests of the taxpayer," the spokesman added. "All comparisons with the 1970s are absurd. The man running it has credibility in the City, it will be run on a commercial basis and at arms' length from the government.
Darling said the plans put forward by Branson's Virgin Group would have made the government wait too long to get its money back, while the inhouse management team was unable to inject enough funds to sustain the bank.
The government remains nervous, however, that powerful shareholder groups will take their case to the courts should they be offered a low price for their shares. Several groups said yesterday they were consulting lawyers.
Their cause was supported by Branson, who said: "We were very clear the business plan we put forward was robust, conservative but ultimately capable of rescuing the interests of all stakeholders. However we must accept the decision with good grace."