Bank withdrawals

When George Osborne became Chancellor, he took charge of a very large zombie bank with a medium-sized government attached to it. The Royal Bank of Scotland was nationalised in 2008 with assets of £2.2 trillion, almost four times state annual spending. The difference between RBS being run well or run badly could be counted in billions. The man who would make that difference was Stephen Hester, a top-flight banker who in a moment of madness had accepted the contract from Alistair Darling’s Treasury and got to work. He would not have known how his new ­masters would turn on him, demanding that he refuse his bonus of nearly £1 million.

Hester’s bonus was almost twice as large last year — but then, fewer people cared. Now the hang-a-banker mentality is back, and it is being encouraged by the government. David Cameron’s decision to hire a pollster as chief strategist has turned his government into a weather-vane.