The Bank of England was founded in 1694. In 1997 Labour removed the Bank of England as the regulator of the British banks.

Peter Lilley said in 1997 in the debate on the Budget (Hansard 11/111997 para 732):
"With the removal of banking control to the FSA - the 'super-SIB' - it is difficult to see how and whether the Bank remains, as it surely must, responsible for ensuring the liquidity of the banking system and preventing systemic collapse".

It is hard to put all the blame on the banks when the government had the job of regulating the banks.  If the government removed the speed limits and everyone crashed would you blame the drivers or the government?

Mr. Brown repeatedly praised the City's "innovative skills," bragging in 2006 that it was responsible for 40% of the world's over-the-counter derivatives trade -- which includes the now infamous repackaged subprime mortgages. He gave financial institutions a false sense of security by telling them on June 16, 2004, that "I am determined to ensure that we can lock in greater stability not just for a year, or for an economic cycle, but in this generation."