If it walks and quacks like a bail-out, is it a bail-out? With an injection of up to £37bn into Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, the UK Treasury says “likely costs to the taxpayers and the risks [to] the public finances have been reduced”. That is an admirable feat of redescription.

In the depth of the crisis last winter, the government supported UK banks through capital injections and the Asset Protection Scheme: for a fee, it would insure large pools of the two banks’ toxic assets against losses. The APS will still cover assets owned by RBS – although a smaller pool, and with a greater share of potential losses borne by the bank before the insurance kicks in. Lloyds escapes these golden chains altogether.