RBS is Nationalised

The big news, obviously, is the collapse of RBS as an independent entity, now that the government is going to pump in as much as £20bn and take 60% of the company. In the long-run this is probably a good deal for taxpayers. At least in as much as that 60% ought to bring a return once (if) healthier times return.

Still, it is a stunning fall from grace for RBS. And for Scotland. The financial implications are one thing, so too the political and, just as importantly, the psychological impact. It’s not a coincidence that Alex Salmond was always quite happy to let folk know he had once been an oil economist at RBS. Equally, the battle between RBS and the Bank of Scotland to buy the English giant Natwest was a significant moment in modern corporate and psycho-political history. This was Scotland ascendant. Confident. On the march. No more would Scottish firms be snapped up by foreign or English predators, instead they would be sailing the high seas looking for bootie themselves.