Perhaps, the greatest political danger for the government from yesterday’s nationalisation of Northern Rock is that it fits so neatly into the narrative of a government that is incapable of making a decision. On The Today Programme this morning, Alistair Darling was repeatedly pressed on the question of why this step was not taken earlier and had no adequate answer.
Darling’s performance this morning revealed just how vulnerable the government is over Northern Rock. The Chancellor could not parry the charge that allowing then bank to continue doing business even now it is nationalised is unfair competition. Anatole Kaletsky rips into this decision in The Times today:
“To use nationalisation to keep the bank in business and its staff in state-subsidised employment would be a travesty of all the economic principles that “new” Labour has claimed to believe in.
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