Sir Victor Blank, chairman of Lloyds was asked recently whether he regretted bumping into Gordon Brown at the infamous St James’s cocktail party last October at which the prime minister agreed to waive competition rules to allow Lloyds to rescue HBOS.

Sir Victor joked that it was a good party, before adding he believed that the HBOS acquisition would prove to be the right move over time. Michael Fallon, a Conservative MP, described it as the “most expensive cocktail party in history”.