How fervently Eric Daniels, Lloyds’ chief executive, must hope that his claim last October that the government was “just another name on the [bank’s] shareholder register” holds true.

It is looking a flimsier hope by the day. The government has now abandoned its pretence at arm’s length management of Northern Rock and Royal Bank of Scotland. Day-to-day operation of those banks is in the hands of executives from the private sector, but the government is operating the big levers that control overall levels of lending, the extent and form of remuneration, and board composition.