Angry PM lays down the law to banks; ECONOMY IN CRISIS..

GORDON Brown last night told the country the "bottom line" of the pounds 500billion bailout was banks would have gone broke without it.

In a rare address to the nation, the Prime Minister said he wanted the chance to "talk straight" about the economy. He said he knew people were worried and angry.

But he said if he had not acted, it would have been financial chaos.

The Prime Minister also vowed to "punish" City traders caught behaving irresponsibly.

His comments follow the Government bailout of the ailing banking system put together by him and Chancellor Alistair Darling.

Brown said the banks who signed up to the rescue package had to accept that it came with strings.

He said: "The days of big bonuses are over. One of the conditions of us helping the banks is that we will have to reach an agreement about their executive remuneration."

The PM said he was "angry" the UK economy was suffering because of big-money gambles by bankers.

Polls show the PM is getting a "Brown Bounce" because of his handling of the economic crisis. A Populus poll shows Labour rising three points to 30 per cent.

CAPTION(S):

BAILOUT: Alistair Darling