Post by Gay Titan on Sept 30, 2008 17:45:47 GMT
by Guy Jackson/Agence France Presse.
The Conservatives pledged Tuesday to throw their support behind the government if emergency action is required to stabilise financial markets.
Party leader David Cameron said British parties would avoid the cross-party splits which contributed to US lawmakers rejecting a 700-billion-dollar bailout of the US financial system Monday, plunging markets into chaos.
"Today is a time for us to send a clear message to our political opponents and the country: let us not allow the political wrangling that took place in America to happen here," Cameron told his party conference in Birmingham, central England.
"Working across party lines is not just something we say because it might sound reasonable, it is something that may well be very necessary," he said in a hastily-arranged speech in response to the fast-moving financial crisis.
"There may well need to be a marshalling of public support behind some big decisions and we cannot allow what happened in America to happen here."
Some commentators believe Britain will eventually have to draw up a rescue package similar to the US bailout.
The Nation's eighth-biggest bank, Bradford and Bingley, was nationalised on Monday to rescue it from its high-risk debts, seven months after similar action to keep the Northern Rock bank afloat.
In a sign of the crisis, shadow chancellor George Osborne was invited to talks Tuesday with Chancellor Alistair Darling, saying afterwards the discussions in London were held "in a spirit of co-operation."
"I think it is very important to demonstrate that the political parties can cooperate at a time of great national anxiety," Osborne said.
"I said that we didn't want to see the kind of bitter partisan division we have seen in the United States and that the British public would expect us to work together."
The Treasury did not release any details of the meeting.
In his speech, Cameron urged the Labour government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown to bring forward legislation to enable the Bank of England to rescue failing banks.
He said the legislation was ready to go before parliament when it resumes business on Monday and his party was prepared to drop its quibbles over who triggers the rescues in order "to allow rapid and safe passage of the bill."
Cameron also called for increased legislation to protect individual savings.
The global financial storm appears to be boosting the prospects of the beleaguered Brown.
The Conservatives were leading Labour by up to 23 points in the weeks leading up to the party conference, but Labour is enjoying a comeback inspired by Brown's speech to his party last week.
A ComRes poll for the Independent newspaper published Tuesday showed Labour has cut the Conservatives' lead to 12 points, suggesting Brown's message that he was the safest pair of hands in the economic crisis was well-received.
Brown was seen as "the best in a crisis" by 43 percent of people, while Cameron polled just 33 percent even though he was regarded as more likeable than the prime minister by more than half of respondents.
The Conservatives pledged Tuesday to throw their support behind the government if emergency action is required to stabilise financial markets.
Party leader David Cameron said British parties would avoid the cross-party splits which contributed to US lawmakers rejecting a 700-billion-dollar bailout of the US financial system Monday, plunging markets into chaos.
"Today is a time for us to send a clear message to our political opponents and the country: let us not allow the political wrangling that took place in America to happen here," Cameron told his party conference in Birmingham, central England.
"Working across party lines is not just something we say because it might sound reasonable, it is something that may well be very necessary," he said in a hastily-arranged speech in response to the fast-moving financial crisis.
"There may well need to be a marshalling of public support behind some big decisions and we cannot allow what happened in America to happen here."
Some commentators believe Britain will eventually have to draw up a rescue package similar to the US bailout.
The Nation's eighth-biggest bank, Bradford and Bingley, was nationalised on Monday to rescue it from its high-risk debts, seven months after similar action to keep the Northern Rock bank afloat.
In a sign of the crisis, shadow chancellor George Osborne was invited to talks Tuesday with Chancellor Alistair Darling, saying afterwards the discussions in London were held "in a spirit of co-operation."
"I think it is very important to demonstrate that the political parties can cooperate at a time of great national anxiety," Osborne said.
"I said that we didn't want to see the kind of bitter partisan division we have seen in the United States and that the British public would expect us to work together."
The Treasury did not release any details of the meeting.
In his speech, Cameron urged the Labour government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown to bring forward legislation to enable the Bank of England to rescue failing banks.
He said the legislation was ready to go before parliament when it resumes business on Monday and his party was prepared to drop its quibbles over who triggers the rescues in order "to allow rapid and safe passage of the bill."
Cameron also called for increased legislation to protect individual savings.
The global financial storm appears to be boosting the prospects of the beleaguered Brown.
The Conservatives were leading Labour by up to 23 points in the weeks leading up to the party conference, but Labour is enjoying a comeback inspired by Brown's speech to his party last week.
A ComRes poll for the Independent newspaper published Tuesday showed Labour has cut the Conservatives' lead to 12 points, suggesting Brown's message that he was the safest pair of hands in the economic crisis was well-received.
Brown was seen as "the best in a crisis" by 43 percent of people, while Cameron polled just 33 percent even though he was regarded as more likeable than the prime minister by more than half of respondents.
