Brown admits ‘economic meltdown’ threat
By Rebecca Burns
Former prime minister Gordon Brown has spoken out about the state of the UK’s financial system during his premiership, saying it was “close to collapse”.
In one of his first interviews since leaving office, the former Labour leader told the Independent newspaper: “I don’t think people yet understand how near the most sophisticated financial system in the world was to collapse, and I think that I understood what was happening”.
Mr Brown made his first major media appearance since leaving No 10 at the weekend on a trip to Uganda to address the African Union. He discussed the financial crisis that has engulfed the UK since his term in office.
Despite telling the Independent the stalling of the financial crisis was one of his proudest moments in office, Mr Brown admitted to the BBC “that if we had spotted the financial crisis earlier, it would have made a difference”.
He added: “I think you learn lessons all the time, and I’m always prepared to learn lessons, and always prepared to admit that if you made a mistake you’ve got to say that things can be done better.”
The MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath has been a rare sight in the Houses of Parliament since losing the election.
Critics have turned on the former prime minister for not making appearances on the backbenches of the Commons during debates or attending many Commons votes.
But Gordon Brown told the Independent: “What I’ve done in the last two months is really what I wanted to do, which is do things locally.
“That’s been my first interest, to put something back into a local community that I feel very much part of, and that I feel I’ve got a duty to, but I think I’ll probably do more on international development and other areas of policy in the future.”
