IceNews editorial comments
Icelanders are becoming increasingly offended by the approach of both UK politicians and nationals.
The main question hanging in the air over the small Nordic island is whether Gordon Brown is trying to shift the focus away from internal problems over to Iceland. Furthermore, is he really intending to harm the past good relations for the sake of gaining votes by using such a populist and non-diplomatic approach?
There is no reason for accusing such a small economy as Iceland for causing financial problems in the UK. The size of the economy is totally relevant as the smallest get badly hit first, especially when larger economic environments see fit to dispense blame in this way.
The responsibility should be shared, it must be remembered that although the Icelandic banks have overgrown their country’s economy, their size is negligible in comparison with the gigantic financial establishments that have gone bankrupt or been nationalized in USA, and indeed the UK.
Beside other accusations, the financial subsidiaries located in various countries are in many cases regulated by the hosting countries, as stated in the contracted stipulations, and the Icelandic PM repeatedly emphasized this fact in his press conference held yesterday.
There is much sympathy for the people of Iceland and their magical country. If Iceland meets its obligations to those in the Netherlands, UK and elsewhere it will find much support and little criticism.
I vote to move the United Nations to Iceland. There is plenty of land available in your country and the move would be a major boost to the icleandic economy. Iceland is also the perfect bridge between the U.S. and Europe. We in the U.S. are tired of having it in New York anyway, since the minsters never agree with us. Thoughts?
Iceland has been boasting a great standard of living derived from borrowed money. Now that the time has come for them to pay they don’t want to.
UK and Dutch Savers in Icelandic banks were just that – savers not investors. They shouldn’t be discriminated against and that is exactly what the Icelandic PM did. Instead of owning up to the mess his government has created, he chose to freeze out foreign savers and protect his own.
I admit that the the UK government should not have used anti-terror laws. Instead they should treat the Icelandic govt justly and should have used organized-crime laws as that is what the Icelandic government has done- Bank Robbery.
Looks to me like it’s the Icelandic Prime Minister who’s trying to deflect attention.
The plain and simple fact is that the Icelandic authorities are under an obligation to guarantee the 1st 20,000 euros in each and every Icesave account. However, thanks to the colossal mismangement of the Icelandic economy and banks they don’t have the money to do this.
The fault is entirely Iceland’s, and the more the Icelandic PM squirms and obfuscates in an attempt to divert attention from his own government’s culpability, the more (rightly) angry the British people become.
It is not the question if great Britain is over reacting. The question is that Iceland does not meet their obligations.
Instead of saying “we will meet our obligations and we will do everything possible to do so” The responsible politician refers to responsibilities of GB.
No,no Iceland, you wanna play ball with the big guys, you ate already from their plate. Now it is time to let the (working class)have their dinner too.
Pay back thieves
I have a certain amount of sympathy with the views expressed in this article, since this has obviously been seized on by Brown to shore up his domestic popularity (or lack of it rather). A Prime Minister who was not staring defeat in the face at the next election would have been a lot more diplomatic.
That said the actions of the Icelandic government deserve a good deal of condemnation. The strong impression that they will discriminate against foreign depositors, and the lack of any sort of apology for the state making guarantees that they are unable to back, does not leave the Icelandic government in a position to do much whinging.
I don’t have any deposits in Icelandic banks, but if the Icelandic government defaults on it’s obligations then it is my taxes that will make up the shortfall. So not feeling particularly pro-Icelandic at the moment, even if I do recognise that my PM is playing this for all it’s worth.
Let’s not get carried away; Icelanders are our friends and we shouldn’t forget that. This problem was started when banks and other lenders in the US and the UK started lending money to people when interest rates were very low, and guess what, when rates went up the borrowers couldn’t afford to make the repayments. These toxic loans were the problem, not the people of Iceland.
If I visit Iceland, I will bring a few hundred thousand friends to help repatriate our money. This was guaranteed by the Icelandic government up to 20,000 euros per account. Seriously, the fact is that Iceland has stolen billions of Euros from people in the UK and the Netherlands. You did this to subsidise your standard of living over a number of years. We should immediately confiscate all Icelandic-owned assets in the EU and stop all trade with Iceland until it has paid back what it owes us.
GBPMan, couldn’t agree more however there is no communication whatsoever (that is part of the problem). It would be very helpful if the position could be clarified or atleast a timeline of when we could expect this.
I think this is a terrible thing that is happening in the financial sectors of the world. One thing that people need to realize is that this is the risk you take while investing their money. People know, when they are investing that there is a chance to loose their money. Maybe they don’t expect it to happen this way but in investing contracts the banks take no responsibility for your money losses. I hope this whole incident helps people to use their cash more wisely.
You should be waiting for ACTUAL news not just speculation and rumours. No wonder we have so many problems, with people acting like a startled herd.
well i for one am looking forward to coming over to iceland next week, and can’t wait.
great country, great people and excellent music
This editiorial is incorrect in my eyes. Hosting countries have contracts and guarantees for their savers, however so do Icelandic banks with the savers based in the UK and Holland. A guarantee for the first 20K in the savings account had been stipulated in Holland, but the Icelandic PM says he is not going to comply and that the Dutch govt. has to take care of it, despite the stipulated contractd!!!!…. So what else should we be thinking over here…!?
Maybe if the bank/government hadnt locked UK people out of their savings accounts whilst allowing Icelanders to have continued access to their funds then this wouldnt have happened.