Where did you go to university? ofloxacin eye drops cost When Eddie George retired in 2003, Gordon Brown quickly installed the pliable Mervyn King as governor. It was all very well giving the Bank control over interest rates – but only if it did as Gordon told it. When house prices started shooting up in 2005, King was prevailed upon to cut interest rates – the opposite of what Steady Eddie would have done. Barely two years later came the bank run on Northern Rock, followed by the meltdown at RBS and HBOS the following year.