The banks: how am I here again? | Paul Mason on the news

Paul Mason's raw thoughts on the news - and why he's sick of the corner of the City of London next to RBS's headquarters.

[DarrylCollins]

Superb rant about how banks and regulators are not doing their jobs. What a great piece to camera. Saying it like it is. So rare in the media today with so much false equivalency and mock balance designed simply to titillate. Love Paul Mason.

[artsketchbook]

It's good to see a news reporter seemingly having a genuine moment, I wish there was more of this!

His points are good ones, why are banks and bankers allowed to illegally meddle in the global economy and have zero repercussions?!

There needs to be a fundamental change and the police and politicians need to stop being so scared to do it. 

[KeithWhittingham]

There's one simple answer to this problem.

Stop fining the banks when they do something wrong because that harms the employees at the bottom, the investors and the customers. Instead direct the fines at the people responsible for the wrongdoing. You can't punish an inanimate entity like an institution - it doesn't have morals or feelings. It doesn't fucking care. You have to punish the perpetrators.

[FuriousGibbon]

One of the best pieces of journalism I've ever seen. Bollocks to presented a 'balanced' view if it means giving us the other side when the other side is irrelevant; just give us the truth.

[UNIVLOCATEFUN]

Wow, he blew me away. Excellent, wish he spoke with a passion like that more. 

[lishalinski]

Paul, I totally agree bankers should go to jail.  However you have too much faith in the regulator.  I worked in the City 18 years.  In my opinion the regulator is at least half the problem.  They were just paper pushers and mostly lawyers who took great delight in drafting so many new rules they couldn't even enforce them.  There were so many rules that most front office facing people broke them almost daily; many of them defied common sense.  When you criminalise ordinary people doing their best then people start to get used to breaking the rules/becoming criminal and there is no definition of a step too far.  That is the nub of the problem that no-one talks about.  Happy to discuss.  Alicia Weston (you can find me on linked in)

[lukestephenson]

Come on Paul, take the plunge and go into politics. I'd vote for you!

[janeholden]

this man should be an MP. I would vote for him. Why is he the first TV reporter to speak the truth?

[doriankiss]

Increased regulation doesn't work, because the banks buy off the regulators. Besides, it's the regulations which, by design, created these too-big-too-fail mega-banks in the first place. Originally, there were hundreds of smaller banks and people would use whichever bank they felt gave them the best deal. Sometimes one would fail, and some people would lose their money, but everyone else was unaffected. Then some of the bankers were able to lobby for regulations which made it difficult for small banks to compete, and so the small banks had to merge together into larger banks in order to survive. Now, we get a few banks which everyone uses, and failure by any of these banks is therefore such a big deal that they can persuade the government to bail them out with GBP holders' money and prevent failure. In turn, they get even more regulations, which they like, because they create predictability and security for their jobs as they won't be facing the competition which would otherwise lead to a natural improvement in standards over time, as customers favour better-value-providing banks with their deposits.

[vincentcecil]

Well said Paul - nice to hear some journalistic integrity.

[jama]

how quickly would he have been fired if he did this on the bbc 

[francescasantorolhoir]

Thanks for saying it for us! (Somebody has to!)

[Stoneshakre]

Common sense and just plain decent thinking. Keep at them, Paul!

[aidencurl]

What we need is an organized collection of people reporting this stuff to the police on a daily basis until they start doing their job and prosecuting these criminals

[lindaibbetson]

What a brilliant rant, I feel for him.  Paul Mason for Prime Minister

[cartneyvideos]

Well said!  The reprehensible banking business culture has gone one long enough. It is VITAL that the regulators and the criminal justice system ACT NOW on our behalf:  criminal proceedings MUST be undertaken to end this insidious, vested-interest, self-serving culture.

[Me-zoyc]

An honest, frank appraisal of the situation going mainstream at last. Nice one Paul.

[HughTerry]

Wasn't it five years ago (or more) that just about everyone agreed that the big banks were responsible for creating a global economic recession - and that to avoid it happening again, they should be downsized, split up, regulated properly and held to account? Since then, what has changed..??

[jeremymcelwrath]

People need to organize and get together locally and protest. Spread the word. Don't let those that are in power just get away with whatever they want. They don't care about the people. All they want is to maximize profits at any cost.

[Greencapybara]

I've never heard "banks" used as a swear word before... beautiful work.