Tories cynical on Rock

Memo to Dave, George, and friends: when you've made considerable hay out of tarring the government with the brush of transparent political cynicism, it's a good idea to steer clear yourselves of transparently cynical political grandstanding.

Oops! Too late.

Tempted though Alistair Darling may have been to rise to the Tories' challenge and put Northern Rock into administration, thus screwing thousands upon thousands of banking and home-owning Britons in one fell swoop, the government actually chose a responsible option here. The nationalisation option, redolent of the Komintern though it may be, is the only one that stands a chance of keeping the taxpayer from getting completely jacked.

But don't take it from Westmonster, take it from Edmund Conway, the Economics Editor of that socialist rag, the Daily Telegraph:

Nationalisation conjures up memories of the 1970s when failing companies were brought into public ownership in a vain attempt to save jobs - with dire consequences. … Taxpayers may well eventually benefit from a profit from the troubled company; without the encumbrances of shareholders it can be diced up and sold off far more easily than it would in the private sector.