Nationalise Bradford & Bingley

THE CHIEF executive of Bradford and Bingley (B&B) bank has stepped down amidst reports of massively reduced profits, due to an increasing number of accounts in arrears. The credit crunch, since it first started last summer, has seen more than £2.7 billion of B&B's market value (that's nearly 80%!) evaporate.

At the monied end of society, this is an opportunity for some of the wealthy to become even wealthier. A global private investment firm, TGP Capital, has agreed to buy up 23% of the company for £179 million. That angered B&B shareholders who call this deal a "disgrace".

At the sharp end of society, the credit crunch brings workers job losses and financial insecurity. We are paying for the banks' excesses such as 'sub-prime' lending - where they offered customers mortgages at five or six times their salary and used pressure sales techniques to sell mortgages to people who could not afford them.

At least £50 billion has been offered out to Britain's banks to protect them from the credit crunch. But the banks have not significantly cut mortgage rates and workers still suffer housing repossessions.

We say: nationalise B&B and the other banks under democratic control and run them to meet people's needs not to maximise profit.