Northern Rock is going to help you

Yes, the UK Government was caught between a Rock and a Hard Virgin when it was 'forced' to nationalise Northern Rock Building Society (turned bank) this week. Tony Blair would be turning in, or on, his spit to think Nationalisation is again Labour Policy. That is, if he could remember where the UK is, or what relevance it has to him now.

Rumour has it (or rather I think) that Tony Blair accepted a bet as a student to see if he could turn the Labour party into the Tory Party without anyone noticing. He achieved it. I like to think of him as Thatcher in a Stetson.

Was it necessary to nationalise NR? Could the government have done more to identify a realistic buyer? Surely they needed look no further than their own cash-for-peerships to identify a favourable bid. Obviously Branson was never a runner - he had to find some way of paying for all the jet fuel surcharges he had to repay.

I've never understood why other countries, particularly the UK, adopt USA economic models. Even a rudimentary understanding of economics shows that the sub-prime market is unsustainable.

Isn't it nice to be this grumpy?