Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, on Thursday defended his role in the Northern Rock crisis before a committee of MPs, saying he had wanted to act covertly as lender of last resort for Northern Rock but had been told that existing legislation prevented him from doing so.

VIDEO

Mervyn King’s appearance before the Treasury select committee is dissected by economics correspondent, Scheherazade Daneshkhu

Mr King assured the Treasury select committee that he had not come under political pressure to reverse the Bank’s policy towards the credit squeeze in financial markets.