How bad is it Darling?

The Prime Minister and his puppet Chancellor are currently facing the press and engaging in furious damage limitation. After that, the Chancellor will have to make a statement to the House where he can expect to be mocked by George Osborne and dissected by Vince Cable, who is the only politician to come out of the Northern Rock affair with his reputation enhanced.

This is not quite a Black Wednesday moment but it is a huge blow to the government’s record for economic competence. In many ways, nationalising Northern Rock was the easy bit. The government now has a whole bunch of problems on its hands; John Redwood has a list of questions that Darling needs to answer that is well worth looking at.

Northern Rock will not go away quickly or quietly. It will act as a constant drag on Labour’s poll ratings all the way up to the next election.