our caring sharing bankers, what would we do without them …

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8167784.stm

Is it building up profits or building up cash reserves?
I can understand the need for banks to have cash reserves and not to rely on foreign debt.
The problem I have is the medium term. Our fixed rate mortgage has just run out and we could get a very low interest rate if we took a variable discount mortgage. But as interest rates can only go up, I'd rather pay more now and get a longer term fixed rate. As long as I pay less than on the old one, I'm not bothered.

the Govt should have let the banks fall
they could then have placed a guarantee on all savings (far cheaper then bailing the banks out)
any and all loans and mortgages would have been collected by the Govt running the bank , so no difference to the person/company paying, that way the MD/CEO/Directors and anyone else in charge could have been sacked with all benifits/pensions/bonuses/bank accounts/savings/shares/properties and anything else that they owned frozen until/after an inquiry regarding the loses that the bank(s) incurred …