The nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley is no straightforward seizure of commercial assets by government. In a twist on Monday, Alistair Darling, the chancellor, unveiled a scheme that sold viable bits of the bank to an ambitious foreigner – Santander – and left domestic rivals to share the cost of B&B’s failure. At the heart of the complex plan is one big ambition: to minimise the potential losses to the taxpayer.

Once the Financial Services Authority, the UK regulator, decided on Saturday that B&B was “no longer a viable deposit taking institution”, it was clear some form of nationalisation would follow, given the absence of any buyers for the business.