Misrepresentation in the media has been a curse on policymakers' attempts to resolve the Northern Rock affair. A particularly disturbing illustration has been the recurrent use of the phrase "taxpayers' money" to describe the Bank of England's financial involvement with Northern Rock.

In the more extreme versions the government is said to have directed "money" to "City bankers" at the expense of resources that could have been used in education or health. Northern Rock is stigmatised as a private sector black hole into which public sector expenditure is being poured. The throwaway line is: "If the state can give £25bn to Northern Rock shareholders, why can't it afford a pay rise for teachers of more than 2.3 per cent?"