How can we move towards more responsibility?

Much has been made in the media of the failings of our country’s leaders, in both the public and private sectors, and indeed our Prime Minister previously called for an end to “the age of irresponsibility”. What’s clear though is that the fine words are not matched by actions.

Just yesterday, Lord Turner expressed concern that the City is returning to business as usual. The banks have been proven right in their view that they are too big to fail, giving them license to behave irresponsibly. Comparing them with casinos may be unreasonable, but the premise is sound: the Government would not bail out a casino if the irresponsibility of its managers bankrupted it, so why do so with the banks?  And in a true example of hypocrisy in action, the directors and senior managers of these institutions do not even have to guarantee the taxpayers’ loans with their personal assets – in stark contrast to their own customers. Lord Turner’s views are mirrored by Mervyn King, who has warned of the “moral hazard” of taxpayers shouldering the banks’ responsibility when the institutions – and their regulator - failed to carry it.
 

Ultimately, there is something wrong about the way responsibility works in Britain. That’s why we’re calling on the UK’s leaders to bring responsibility back in fashion, not just in words but in actions, so they can be held to account and, if things go wrong, resign for reasons of principle rather than pique and personal ambition. There has been much talk of ‘joined up Government’ but little achievement, so we’re taking responsibility and leading the way with our website - www.responsibility.org.uk – and would like to hear what others think.

Harold Goodwin & Zulfi Hussain

Global Promise