The UK is now officially a banana republic, they are also trying to prop up their insane housing market. Where will they stop ? As for shorting financials, how big a deal is it for the average investor ? I mean to short these stocks at these levels -and even a few months back- you really have to know what you are doing , do a lot of research , dig into the balance sheet and understand what is going on and also be a great technician /trader. Who has the time for the research ? Yeah of course you can just follow Jim Roger's trades but who else is in these trades ? That's why you get those huge rallies. Puts have huge premiums, and these stocks can double or triple in 2 days . So actually the government might be doing you a favor.
None of this strategies pushes the price of the stock down as short selling itself does. That makes the difference.