Conservative Party Conference 2011: George Osborne speech

Conservative Party Conference 2011: George Osborne speech; Osborne speech SOT- The second mistake was made by banks who ran up staggering debts of their own, buying financial instruments even they couldn't understand. The banks and those regulating them believed that the bubble would never stop growing, that markets were always self-correcting, that greed was always good, that their ponzi schemes would never collapse, and that none of the debts would ever turn bad. The message from this hall is clear: they let down their customers, they let down their shareholders, and they let down this country. And there was a third mistake. Our European neighbours plunged headlong into the euro without thinking through the consequences. How could they believe that countries like Germany and Greece could share the same currency when they had vastly different economies and no mechanism to adjust? For generations to come, people will say: thank god Britain didn't join the euro. Let us recognize the foresight and the fortitude, the street stalls and the leaflets, the pavement pounding and the canvassing, of the people in this hall today, who campaigned to keep the pound. And there's one man here today, who precisely saw the consequences, warned of them, campaigned against them, put his reputation on the line to oppose them, was ridiculed for it, but who stuck to his course and was proved right - my friend, William Hague. I've waited ten years to say that. And it's thanks to the leadership of someone else here today that we have kept Britain out of the eurozone bailout of Greece, and out of their permanent bailout fund - our Prime Minister, the country's leader, David Cameron. And this also is my opportunity to thank my Treasury team, Mark Hoban, Justine Greening, David Gauke who you have just been hearing from, Greg Hands, and of course Danny Alexander. They are diligent and dedicated in their service of our country.