The end really does justify the means. That is the message Barclays’ board hoped shareholders would swallow after it cut out most of them in its rush to raise £7bn of new money, mainly from the Gulf. Certainty about its capital base was the end Barclays had in mind. Getting there meant trampling on shareholders’ pre-emption rights and selling nearly a third of its equity to new investors at a discount. Though overall shareholder approval for Barclays’ quick capital fix was never in doubt once the government last week shut the door on cheaper alternatives, the bigger risk to its plan was that they would derail it by not waiving their pre-emption rights.

Disadvantaged investors vented their anger at a general meeting. Their support for the capital-raising exercise was hardly overwhelming. Ignoring apologies by Marcus Agius, Barclays’ smooth-talking chairman, and his frank explanation of the board’s largely self-created predicament, investors accounting for between 13 and 15 per cent of the bank’s equity voted against the resolutions. Of course, institutions have a strong self-preservation instinct and were hardly going to turn up their noses at a £7bn capital injection that would stabilise their bank.