Who’s to blame?

Andrew V ass( Letters ,2 November) accuses me of “a rehash of old Tory propaganda blaming the banking cri - sis on Labour”. I did no such thing; he should re - read my letter of the previous day. My point was solely to criticise Gordon Brown and his colleagues for not limiting RBS directors’ pensions and clawing back their bonuses as a pre- condition for our £ 45 billion bail- out, which they could have done.

In various published letters since 2008 I have blamed bankers for the crisis, but also my own accountancy profess ion, regulators and politicians of all hues–in clud- ing Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton for promoting excessive sub- prime lending. Sadly, I have no doubt that Gordon Brown’s l atest con - cerns remain valid. JOHN BIRKETT Horseleys Park St Andrews, Fife