I do not know the detail of the situation that Alex Neil described, but I find it difficult to reconcile what I interpret as clear political hostility to any alternative but the merger with the public pronouncements of a level playing field. The difficulty is this: with the best will in the world, a merger between two UK-based domestic clearing banks, involving synergies of £1.5 billion, will inevitably, even with the best of motives, result in substantial job losses and a diminution of competition.While I support the means to stabilise the financial sector, many people will think it ironic, to say the least, that while substantial quantities of public money can be inputted to stabilise the financial sector, the outcome may well be a reduction in employment of the order of tens of thousands of jobs and a reduction in competition that will affect families and businesses throughout the country.