So, once again the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds is ‘all but done’. How many times have we heard that? For weeks we have seen headlines saying the takeover has gone ahead only for a later report saying terms have yet to be agreed. Throughout the see-sawing reports I have found myself wondering whether the question here is not so much ‘will they or won’t they?’ as ‘should they?’
The takeover would be completely against the rules set down by the Monopolies Commission to protect our freedom of choice and prevent the possibility of price fixing brought about by the lack of other viable suppliers of the goods or services being sought. The Government however have decided that it would be to the benefit of that nebulous entity the ‘national interest’ for the takeover to go ahead, even if it is against the rules of the Monopolies Commission, to restore faith in the banking system and stem the downward spiral into recession. There may be some truth in that but it still begs the question ‘when is the law the law and when isn’t the law the law? and, more importantly, is it in the ‘national interest’ for someone to be above the law in order to make that decision in the first place?
Having said that, with all the other talk of consumer, national and international debt being bandied about in millions and billions and trillions of pounds, maybe it has all just become Monopoly money anyway….
