As the financial storm reached its panicked peak, Britain’s big banks sought safe harbour within the state. Lloyds Banking Group ended up 43.5 per cent government-owned and enmeshed in public schemes. Now that waters are calmer, however, the lender would like more room for manoeuvre.

In March, the bank agreed to take part in the Government Asset Protection Scheme: it bought an insurance policy that would protect it against catastrophic losses on a £260bn portfolio of toxic assets. For this service, Lloyds agreed to pay £15.6bn to the state in shares over five years.