Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Nidge, Are you by any chance Stephen Hester?

It's exactly that type of "I'm indisposable" pomposity on his part, combined with stupid Government policies which empowered the banks and undermined the alternatives, that has got us into the mess we're in.

Given that we'll soon "own" 84% of the failed bank I'd be interesting to see just how that plays out democratically.

By way of example, what if we taxpayers decided that we didn't want a bank we "own" charging people "x" amount for overdrafts, what if we wanted to refund everyone the charges they'd been charged over the last lot of years? Do you think our "owning" the bank would make any difference? I suspect the answer is "no" because we do not, despite what Darling, Brown Hester et al tell us, own the bank.

We are merely propping up the portfolios of failed risk takers who have for years rewarded themselves inordinate bonuses whilst all around them was collapsing - these are the very same people whom Hester tells us we must keep as they are the "best people" to affect a recovery.

If you're an RBS customer then the next time they charge you an overlimit, unauthorised overdraft fee or some such nonsense simply phone your branch manager and tell them to take it off the £3000.00 they owe you - see how far you get.

It is exactly this "fear" that has clouded the reality of the situation