Conservative leader David Cameron today offered to suspend political hostilities to help the Government deal with the crisis in the financial markets.
The British opposition leader was aiming to avoid a British repeat of the wrangling in Congress that yesterday blocked President George W. Bush’s $700 billion plan to rescue US banks.
In an emergency speech to the Tory conference in Birmingham, Mr Cameron offered his party’s support for Government legislation to tackle the crisis and urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown to fast-track it onto the statute books when the Commons returns on Monday.
He announced that he was dropping Tory objections to a key element of the Government’s Banking Reform Bill to ensure it passes smoothly through Parliament.
Mr Cameron won applause from activists as he told the conference: “Let us not allow the political wrangling that took place in America to happen here in our own country. In Britain we are all in this together, so in Britain let us stick together and together we will find a way through.”
Tories stood ready to work with the Government to marshal public support for the far-reaching decisions which may have to be taken to avoid an escalation in the crisis, he said.
Comparing the current turmoil with the Wall Street crash of 1929, he reminded delegates that it was not the crash itself which sparked the Great Depression, but the flawed policy response and the crisis in the banking system which followed it.
The Tory leader spoke by telephone with Mr Brown last night as the impact of the Congress vote became apparent, as did the Liberal Democrats’ Nick Clegg.
But Mr Cameron made clear that he was not absolving the financial services industry from blame for the succession of crises which have rocked the system of global capitalism, and told the conference that “there will be a day of reckoning”.
He said the immediate need was to protect jobs, savings and mortgages by maintaining the stability of the financial system, however.
“Today is a day for safety, for security and for protection. Everyone needs to know . . . that we are not playing politics with this, and we will always do the right thing to protect your life and your future."
PA