It was much wider than that: a Crisis of the International Monetary System, which had to be dealt with - as it was - by co-ordinated international action, not by savage cuts in the living standards of our people - or indeed of the people of any other country- going beyond anything that the underlying situation requires.

Therefore, I warn the Government that if this debt burden continues, it is possible that one major bank could be seriously at risk, which in turn would precipitate a Crisis in the International Monetary System almost of the proportions of the Wall Street crash.