After a few years of finger-pointing and banging the regulation drum it seems our politicians have decided it's time to de-regulate again. At first glance, reducing regulations that hamper business sounds like a sensible step.

Except, of course that regulations are designed to hamper businesses; that's the point. They are there to prevent banks from taking unacceptable risks with investors money. They exist to prevent the tax-payer from needing to bail out businesses that spent so much on employee bonuses that when the tide went out, they were found to be swimming naked.

I know people have short memories and there's an election coming but surely we cannot already have forgotten why it is that our children are saddled with appalling government debts and their prospects are mired by a state of on-going austerity.