No, Jake, any failing banks (or more precisely their administrators) would not have foreclosed their mortgagers to realise their assets. After all, what’s the point of having thousands of houses which nobody can buy? Better to retain the mortgages and generate some income. Gordon Brown had nothing to do with “keeping a roof over people’s heads”.
Having said that the rescue of the banks was not done as it should have been. Depositors should have had their funds protected and the institutions themselves allowed to go to the wall. But back to the question:
I don’t think the government is bemoaning the fact that a large number of people are going to have to claim benefits as a result of the spending cuts. Tragic as it is, it is necessary and has been caused principally by the previous administration’s mishandling of the economy. In particular by spending vast sums of cash on they did not have on useless services which benefitted nobody. (We can argue about this until the cows come home, but I think the evidence is overwhelming. The “global financial crisis” was a get-out-of-jail card which turned up just at the right moment to divert attention away from their folly).
As always, whenever this topic is aired, we seem unable to differentiate those in need because of the latest crisis and those who have chosen to live their entire lives on benefits. It is the latter which the government (under the guidance of IDS) is trying to tackle.