This is a ridiculous answer from McDonnell. The actual answer to the question of who pays for the credit crunch is 'we all do'. The thing that the Government has the ability to influence is how and when we pay.

Do we pay a large amount upfront by taking equity shares and/or buying up bad debt from banks, in a move, which if we are lucky will end up not costing very much in the medium term, because the share prices of banks will rise and we'll get the money back. Or do we do nothing because we 'don't want to waste taxpayers money' and end up with a longer and deeper recession, which we pay for through the extra misery of unemployment, repossessions, extra government borrowing to make up for lost tax revenue plus spending cuts?

Or do we take McDonnell's 'third way' of nationalising the banks, so destroying international confidence in the UK economy. The likely consequences of which would be a run on the pound, so in inflation and Government difficulties in borrowing on the international money markets resulting in spending cuts? All of which would result in, yes you guessed it, a big reccession, rising unemployment, falling real incomes etc. etc.

At a time when capitalism as we know it is collapsing around our ears, and we are crying out for radical but practical solutions and ideas to deal with the crisis, it is a tragedy that McDonnell's ill thought out nonsense is the best the left can come up with.