INDEPENDANCE, ha ha. that's the biggest joke i've heard yet.

Its simple Mr King gave his view, in that the banks should learn the hard way, then days later Mr Brown forces Mr King into pumping 10 billion of our money into the markets to lower the LIBOR rate, whie the countries children are impovrished

My plea to the news papers, find out who draws on this emergancy funding so we the customer can get out, i believe so many banks have big losses and will not disclose this information, if banks dont trust each other, how can we trust them, high st banks are in trouble otherwise Mr Brown would not have acted. I will not be leaving any savings in any British banks especially the high st banks.
The way i see it, i like the banks ten years ago wont except that level of risk, risk for a measly amount of net intrest. cash is king and its better under your matress. the older generation will know exactly what im saying. Johnson matthey, barings. The banking version of Enron is in our mist

lewis, Cardiff, Wales

yet again mr king makes another balls-up, how long before his position becomes untenable and he gets shuffled off to the house of lords !!

chris harris, paignton, devon

So now we have King put and the Bernake put, a licence to institutional investors to make reckless investment decisions secure in the fact that the BoE and Fed Reserve will bail them out if things go wrong.

Peter Thomas, New York, USA

I hope the Banks find the terms of this £10 billion 3 month loan so unattractive that none of them will want to take advantage of it.

Michael Smith, Southampton, UK

Another nail in the coffin of the independence of the Bank. MPC members nominated by the Chancellor, with the Govenor's term coming up for renewal in a month's time. A bit of arm-twisting and hey, the Bank bales the Government out of a hole just before conference. Only to store up worse trouble down the line. Moral Hazard anyone? Free BoE put options on risky lending? Protect savers with a decent insurance scheme maybe, but don't protect banks themselves.

G, London,

This has all the hallmarks of panicking government ministers (prime included) leaning, nay, stamping on the BoE. If I were Mr King I would resign. Rewriting the rule book only makes sense if the new rules don't bring major problems in other areas in the medium term. Watch out for clever people exploiting this government weakness and making us pay their risk premium.

colin f, Shrewsbury,

Why don't figures of influence understand that an abrupt change of policy or "U turn" is only going to add to the uncertainty. Who can trust that the so called "guarantee" offered to Northern Rock savers will not be withdrawn next week? Especially as it is now being scrutinised by the EU as illegal state aid.

TC, London,

How exactly will this encourage the banks to NOT under-price risk in the future?

Magnus Therning, Cambridge, UK

So John ALbert, whatever made you think the BOE is independant? The Govenrment controls the country, no one is truly independant.

Would you prefer the economy to shrink shrink shrink then?

Ewan , sherborne,

Why didn't the government support Equitable Life? Or those failed company pension funds? Why then now decide to support the depositors at Northern Rock? Do life savings in a pension fund not count as much?
Funny old world.

Jon Watts, Dorking, Uk

One used to belief the Governor of the BoE was a man of his word, and thus when he stated firmly (and correctly) that it was not his job to bail out those institutions that had found themselves in trouble becuase of imprudent activity, one acted in accordance with that statement. This meant preparing ones finances (corporate and personal) for a forthcoming storm. Now he has done a remarkable u turn, may I ask whether the BoE will provide funds to cover those who acted on his prudent promises, only to find themselves deceived by Mr King. If Soros was ther man who broke theBoE fiscally, King must bethe manwhjo broke its moral credibility. And to have done so with use of taxpayers money is appalling.

Tim Fitzsimmons, Rudgwick,

Inflation is guaranteed in Western society....Chinese manufactured goods cannot hold out against excess liquidity and raw material prices......looks like we are heading for Stagflation

TomTom, Leeds, England

I agree with Nick -- Political intervention and the economics of the Mad House have prevailed. This entire melt down has been because of artificially (politically motivated) low interest rates and easy credit for years.... how can now more credit solve the problem. The bubble has burst. The worst is yet to come and lower interest rates and the printing of more paper money is not the answer.... look at commodity prices/oil prices... inflation is about to go through the roof... I'd hate to be a politician and explain that one away.... easier credit and much higher inflation.....

colin bond, London, England

Isn't this just putting off the inevitable ?

roger, london,

Will Mervyn be rewarded or turned into a scape goat?

Paul Cahill, Sevenoaks, Kent

I hope Mr King ensures any High Street banks using this facility will be stung by extortionate "unauthorised borrowing" charges coupled with a hefty fee for a nice letter from himself to the CEO.

jasper, chelmsford,

Whatever happened to the free market forces we were told manage everything? And big govermenet is not so bad after all??

Jim Walsh, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Brown knows that he is in no position to win an election if he were to stick by his original intention for the bank to remain full independant. The public have shown they do not trust the system (and the government) by the speed of the panic around Northern Rock, which is what triggered the letter to the bank of england. Politics will always meddle in any system, which poses a threat to the individuals involved without due cause for the wider public or the longer term effects. Now, now, now. Brown magic or Tragic ?

Karl, London,

Tulip bulbs, central american infrastructure investments, loss-making tech start-ups - when will we ever learn? I'm sure there will be a spate of books about this in a few years, which will be a nice distraction from sitting on our property assets while the negative equity unwinds. Can I be the first to say stagflation?

Graham, London,

A 0.5% cut by the Fed followed by this.

Both the BoE and Fed have lost a huge amount of credibility in the space of 24 hours.

What about inflation targeting? The cost of commodities such as Oil and Wheat?

What about letting banks learn the hard way?

Smacks of inept government intervention.

Nick, London,

He will regret it. Surely this move was entirely influenced by the Government and so what does that say about Bank of England independence. Sweets today and sweets tomorrow for our new society of the insatiable and the gullible . Well done all you Politicians. Growth growth growth. You are going to be sorry.

John Albert , Lisbon, Portugal