Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
How the public has been left paying for RBS’s crimes

LAST month a Telegraph headline said: “Government closer to selling RBS stake after bank agrees ‘milestone’ £3.6bn US fine.”

In May, the Royal Bank of Scotland agreed with the US Department of Justice to settle lawsuits accusing the bankers of selling products linked to risky mortgages in the US between 2005 and 2007. 

These were the dodgy financial products at the centre of the banking crisis, so it seems RBS is admitting responsibility for an economic fraud that has caused deep misery for millions.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Google
Features / 3 October 2025
3 October 2025

The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

TORY HIGH SOCIETY:  Sir John Ritblat
Features / 19 September 2025
19 September 2025

It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES

Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as he hosts a VJ Day commemorative reception in the garden of 10 Downing Street, London, August 14, 2025
Features / 5 September 2025
5 September 2025

Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of  Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

Defence Secretary John Healey (third left) and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu (second left) view a long-range air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missile, during a visit to MDBA in Hertfordshire, July 9, 2025
Features / 22 August 2025
22 August 2025

MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES

Similar stories
ANNOYING YET OMNIPRESENT: The podcasting left must find ways
Features / 6 December 2024
6 December 2024
Despite mainstream political podcasts drowning in centrist drivel, Labour Left Podcast offers an authentic grassroots perspective from decades of working-class struggle and resistance, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
CAUGHT OUT AGAIN: 
The MP for Birmingham 
Yardley can’t re
Features / 4 December 2024
4 December 2024
Despite promises to clean up her act after previous violations, Home Office minister waited five months to declare a luxury Chelsea flower show dinner with Lloyds Bank, as Labour’s love of freebies continues, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
EYE OF A STORM: Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke
Features / 22 November 2024
22 November 2024
SOLOMON HUGHES reveals how one of the leading lobbyists for new technology set to hoover up billions in subsidies is already embroiled in a privatisation scandal that has been described as ‘disastrous for taxpayers’
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds leaving Downi
Features / 11 October 2024
11 October 2024
Jonathan Reynolds’ appearance at a Starling Bank-sponsored event speaks volumes about Labour’s attitude to financial regulation, as the bank faces criticism over Covid loan fraud and money laundering failures, writes SOLOMON HUGHES