Over at the TaxPayers' Alliance blog I've put forward the argument that I think the opposition should be making in the nationalisation debate today. In short, they need to make the central issue the form of nationalisation that the Government has chosen.
The Conservatives can make it clear that the Government are asking taxpayers to fund an attempt, in Ron Sandler's words, to "reinvent Northern Rock as a 'profitable, vibrant and sustainable business'". Reviving a mortgage bank with a busted brand and huge liabilities is a very risky venture. It could become a rerun of the Phoenix Consortium's disastrous 'rescue' of Rover on an unimaginable scale. It could become the most expensive job creation scheme in history.
