State guarantee for depositors at Northern Rock
In the face of a massive bank run on mortgage lender Northern Rock, the British government announced that it will guarantee all deposits of the bank’s account holders.
On BBC Radio 4, the British chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling, said: “If people want to get their money out of Northern Rock, they can. The money is here and it is backed up by the Bank of England so they can get it.”
With this remark the chancellor fired inadvertently the starting gun and the depositors ran to get their money. Some even showed up at four in the morning and formed, in fine British tradition, an impeccable queue in front of the bank’s door.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ft/070917/fto091720071344123691.html?.v=1