"I note that the Government is committed to spending £110 billion, £3,500 for each of us, to keep Northern Rock, a bank with two million customers afloat."

Have you any clue at all about this, or are you just regurgitating the same old clichés that have no basis in fact?

The "£110 billion" figure you quote is the value of NR's mortgage book, and is this a LIABILITY only if the entirety of the book is somehow worthless. Otherwise this is an ASSET. The only circumstance under which the £110 bn is a liability is effectively if the value of all the homes in the book become wothless. In this case all property in the UK will, by extesion, also be worthless. Can you really see that happening? No, thought not.

What has in fact been "spent" is round about ZERO. The BoE has LOANED NR circa £25 billion, with a similar sum in guarantees.

Your article is grossly misleading as the govenment has "spent" nothing, or very little, on NR so far. Indeed, the govt. stands to make a profit. Please at least make an attempt to get facts straight before writing something like this...