http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91211-1293359,00.html


Quote Originally Posted by skynews
The Tories have warned that Chancellor Alistair Darling's job is "on the line" over the Northern Rock crisis.

Chancellor Alistair Darling

The Chancellor has been responding, in the House of Commons, to concerns about the huge amount of public money currently tied up in the bank.
Around £24bn in taxpayers' money is helping prop the business up.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne told MPs that the episode had been "a tale of incompetent and weak leadership," and called for more information on the risk to taxpayers.
He asked Mr Darling: "Have you been honest with taxpayers about the risks they face and have you told the whole truth?"

But the Chancellor insisted revealing the extent of help provided by the taxpayer would risk undermining efforts, but claimed all lending was secured against "quality" assets.
He told the Commons Bank of England intervention had given Northern Rock time to assess its "strategic options".
Mr Darling said "further expressions of interest" of potential investors in Northern Rock were expected in the coming days.
The signs are that bidders currently weighing up whether to take on the bank expect some form of government aid to continue.
The crisis provoked a run on the bank in September

The Treasury has made it clear that it is willing to discuss extending funding subject to the agreement of European competition regulators and on the basis that the deal represents value for money for the taxpayer.
The problem for the Government is that ministers are now locked into a situation that is far from ideal... and it is not just the stability of the banking sector that is threatened, but the reputations of Chancellor and Prime Minister alike.
In an ideal world, Alistair Darling might hope for someone to come in, pay a fair price for Northern Rock and get on with running the business.
But the bank itself issued a statement this morning indicating that bids now on the table materially undervalue the business.
Some form of ongoing government security now seems to be the central condition for any proposed deal.
And that means Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown are likely to stay associated with a shaky-looking bank for many months to come.