Northern Rock (minus all the dodgy mortgages that caused the bank to crash, the taxpayer keeps all that) will become another high street bank chain. Sold in the middle of an economic crisis at a loss of around £500 million – money that could have created twenty thousand jobs – George Osbourne has handed it over to Richard Branson and US billionaire Wilbur Ross, who will decide how much cash we can have back in the long run.

With the cream of the business, Virgin Money are likely to build Northern Rock up before selling on to one of the big players at a massive profit. Or it will become another big bank that does little for the people who need it.

Big banks are no longer set up to lend to small businesses and families trapped in debt. All the decisions are made by software, not local managers who know their customers. France, Germany and the USA all have community banks paid for by the big banks. Banks that are for people, not for profit. The Government could have supported Northern Rock becoming a lead in a new community banking sector and taken a step forward, not given it away.

Flyer for printing – File:NorthernRock.pdf