'Gordon Brown has finally admitted he made a ‘big mistake’ in failing properly to regulate the banks.
The former prime minister, who has always claimed the recession was mainly the result of global factors, told a conference in the U.S. that Labour should have done much more to rein in the banks before the crisis struck.
The humiliating admission will be seized on by Mr Brown’s critics who argue that the long boom he presided over was fuelled largely by easy credit – allowing households and government to build up huge debts.'