Bank of England boss Mervyn King, not Gordon Brown, 'was bank bailout mastermind'

Secret: Bank of England boss Mervyn King suggested action was needed on banks six months before Gordon Brown

Mervyn King plotted a secret bailout of the banking system six months before Gordon Brown decided to take action.

The Bank of England governor told U.S. officials in March 2008 that ‘a co-ordinated effort to possibly recapitalise the global banking system’ was needed to save it from collapse, according to documents released by WikiLeaks.

Mr Brown did not come up with his master plan to tackle the financial crisis until September 2008 following the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The delay raises a major question over his claims that he was the brains behind the bailout and had ‘saved the world’.

The leaked U.S. embassy cables show the Bank governor told American officials action was needed to shore up the banks six months before the financial crisis reached its peak.

Mr King said Britain and America and other developed countries should override the ‘dysfunctional’ G7 and orchestrate a multi-billion pound bailout for global banks.

RBS and Lloyds were later rescued by the Government.

British taxpayers stumped up around £1trillion in loans and other guarantees to shore up the banking system.