It's a simple call

Just when the Government was hoping we'd start to forget Northern Rock, along comes Gordon Brown's next big idea.

In an effort to relieve the pressure on the mortgage market, the Bank of England and the Treasury have suggested that banks and building societies - who in recent times have stopped lending to each other - should be allowed to swap traditional mortgage-based assets, for Government bonds.

The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, said today that his Government "needed to sharpen up and improve message".

But for those of us who can see echoes of Northern Rock in this 'latest bright idea', we can allegedly take comfort in Gordon Brown's promise that the Government "Won't let this through without taxpayer protection"

It's a simple call. Does that statement make you feel secure? Or have we heard it all before and been let down every time by a duplicitous and increasingly knee-jerking Labour government, as it starts to go down for the third time?