FactCheck: did Darling say 'disaster'?

The background

The Chancellor has signalled the first nationalisation of a British company since the 1970s - with a whopping £110bn bill for the taxpayer to boot.

It's an Old Labour policy in New Labour clothes, with Darling now describing public ownership of Northern Rock as the best available option.

But just what has Darling - and his boss - said about nationalisation during the past six months?

Did he ever say it would be "disastrous"? Did he ever rule it out?

The analysis

"Look, we are dancing on the top of a pin now," said Darling this morning as he did battle with the Today Programme's John Humphrys.

The Chancellor was annoyed at suggestions he said nationalisation for the bank would be a "disaster".

"No, I didn't - somebody else said that," was Darling's reply.

He is correct. That "somebody else" was Newcastle MP Jim Cousins, who to quote in full, told the Commons on November 19: "Nationalisation would lead to a slow lingering death for the jobs of Northern Rock workers, its assets and Britain's reputation as a major financial services centre - with the Chancellor cast in the role of undertaker."

So, it's clear, Darling did not say that. He did agree with it, though, and to highlight the fact he poured scorn on Liberal Democrat calls for public ownership.

He told the Commons: "I agree with my honourable friend [Cousins]. It is regrettable and surprising that the Liberal Democrats never seemed to support our earlier proposals to keep Northern Rock open."

Not so much a case of putting words in Darling's mouth then, as the Chancellor gobbling them up all by himself.

There remains, however, some dispute over whether Hansard correctly caught the spirit of that exchange. Darling insists that he was agreeing with another comment - and not direclty with Cousins's point. The Hansard transcript - Parliament's own official version of events - indicates otherwise.

While he never hid the fact that finding a private buyer was the preferred option, the chancellor was careful not write off the chances of banking's answer to British Leyland coming to pass.

In November, as the agenda began to switch from saving Northern Rock to selling it he said: "To simply plump for one solution today, and presumably not even bother considering any of the expressions of interest that have come in, would be extremely short-sighted and foolish."

By now the Tory sound bite that this was "the first government to over see a run on a bank in more than a century" was becoming a daily feature, but the line continued.

Darling told the Treasury Select Committee on January 11: "All options including nationalisation are on the table."

He used the N word - something the spin doctors have since rephrased into "temporary public ownership".

Right up to today, when Darling finally had to admit defeat, he said: "We did everything we could to try and find a commercial solution, but it simply proved not to be an option."

His predecessor has been somewhat less open-minded, though, adding to long-held suspicions that he was loathe to see the government own Northern Rock.

During PMQ's on 5 December Brown laid into Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable for campaigning for natioanlisation. He said: "When he [Cable] talks about Northern Rock and public ownership as a temporary solution, he means that we should try to find a private buyer.

"That is exactly what we are going to do. All options are on the table, but we are trying to find a private buyer."

Notice the emphasis on "private buyer". Clearly Brown, having seen his autumn appeal in the polls be whittled away by winter, was very keen to avoid the impact of nationalisation on the public psyche.

It's a sentiment he re-echoed in the Guardian on January 17. He said: "In the next few weeks we are looking at the situation of how we can find buyers for Northern Rock."

Again, the emphasis was on finding a private buyer.

Even today, the best Brown could muster in terms of the nationalisation plans was to say: "Alistair Darling has made the right decisions."

Vague enough as not to mean anything - and certainly not an endorsement of public ownership of Northern Rock.

FactCheck rating: 1.5

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The sources

Today Programme interview with Darling
Hansard: Brown attacks Cable in PMQs
Hansard: Darling statement to the Commons regarding Northern Rock
Guardian: No answer yet on Rock's future, darling tells MPs

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