It was before the nationalisation of Northern Rock was announced.

It was also before Cameron said that trips to Auschwitz were a gimmick.

Considering that these have been the only two interesting political events since Christmas, I can’t wait to see what the next poll (from whoever) says.

Yes, Portillo etc. made the prediction that this is not good enough for an outright win by the conservatives at the next election.

Even if there are very difficult times ahead for Labour in the next year, this remains a marathon – and, despite the hopes of many who comment here, the outcome two years hence is wide open.

Even now, while it is their right (and duty) to criticise the government, they failed to convince on rational arguments that they could have achieved any better outcome. They have instead recycled yet again their trivial mantra of “dither”, tried personal attack on Darling, tried to present nationalisation as a throwback to the 70s, gone WAY over the top with talk of calamity…

They have not come out of this week looking like a convincing alternative government. Brown’s jibe about “student politics” was perhaps un unfair slur on students.

If they’d done that, there’d have been howls of derision, and quite right too, at the price of the credit line. Lloyds were told that their “offer” would have to make sense to the taxpayer – their terms were worse than olivant’s.

My “friends in the City” don’t have judgemental blinkers – their interest lies in with recognising a good deal rather than judging competence. Lloyds weren’t offering a good deal. Nor was Branson or anyone else, simply because there was no “good deal” to be had.

Colion –

“NR is to be exempted from such accountability & scrutiny under the Bill as drafted”

No – its accountability is in place; the degree of publication of its confidential arrangements is the thing at issue. The accusation of “quadrangle politics” hits the Tories because they are seeking to blur, simply for the sake of scoring debating points, the issues of proper accountability and reasonable commercial confidentiality. Theirs is an immature approach to a problem that iscrying out for non-ideological thinking.

Redwood’s only thought on this is that the delay was the problem. Wrong. NR was stuffed by its dodgy business strategy coupled with extremely dubious selling of dodgy mortgages, closely followed by shenanigans of re-packaged mortgage bonds, smelly mortgages dressed up as AAA rated and sold on around the world. No degree of fleet-footedness would have lifted NR out from the mire.