The most surprising of the market statistics issued by Plus this week was the fact that on January 21 its share of the reported trades in Northern Rock stock was a little over 49 per cent. That was the day when news emerged from the Treasury that taxpayers were set to support Northern Rock for years under a government-sponsored financing plan likely to raise public sector net debt by close to £100bn.

Plus, as long-term readers of this column already know, is a four-letter word at the London Stock Exchange. So let me make it quite clear that there is no suggestion that the share price for Northern Rock is being set anywhere but on the LSE’s electronic order book trading system.