As the markets give their daily, desperate verdict on the banking collapse and on the lack of urgency in the Government's response, journalists and commentators are torn between prescribing solutions and deciding who, or what, to blame. And as Ruth Lea points out here on Centre Right, collapse of trust between banks is key to the current problem. But collapse of trust in government is also a huge factor.
Perhaps the most damaging inheritance of the Blair/Brown years has been the death of trust in politicians. In the aftermath of the 'dodgy dossier' days, we thought that the the failure of trust would most jeopardise a future government's ability to uphold confidence in times of war. Now we know that the death of trust can jeopardise our economic future. And trust, once lost, is the hardest quality to rebuild.
