Given that the Northern Rock management has presided over the first run on a bank in Britain since the reign of Queen Victoria, put 6,000 jobs in peril, destroyed the value of the company and lumbered the Bank of England - and, potentially, British taxpayers - with debts that run into tens of billions of pounds, it is tempting to suggest that there is only one question that the Treasury Select Committee needs to ask Matt Ridley and Adam Applegarth tomorrow morning: Why don’t you resign?

But in the interests of understanding Northern Rock’s near-collapse and to judge the merit of the bailouts now being proposed, here are ten extended questions for the chairman and chief executive:

1. When did you first think that relying almost entirely on the wholesale markets to fund your mortgage lending business might be a problem? Did regulators ever express any concern about your lopsided business model? Did you ever attempt to gauge the impact of a credit crunch in your stress-testing?

2. Why did you decide to increase the dividend at the expense of balance sheet strength in July? With credit conditions deteriorating, why was it that you ratcheted up your aggressive marketing to new borrowers?

3. Why did you not alert shareholders to your deteriorating financial position in early August? By then, you were in talks with the FSA and, in short order, with the Bank of England, so did you not collude in the creation of a false market in Northern Rock’s shares by not disclosing this to the market?

4. How did the Tripartite system work for you? How helpful were the FSA, Bank and Treasury when the crisis became apparent? Which, as far as you could tell, was the lead agency of Government? Who was then – and is now – in charge?

5. Was it the Bank of England’s fault? Could you have seen off this crisis if Mervyn King, the Bank Governor, like his European counterpart Jean-Claude Trichet, had injected funds into the three-month money market?

6. Were you prudently supervised by the FSA? With hindsight, was it sensible that you were required to have only five days worth of cash and liquid securities to hand?

7. Why did the quiet efforts to save Northern Rock fail? Was there a deal on the table from Lloyds TSB and, if so, who scuppered it? Would it have been possible for the Bank to provide a credit line on the quiet?

8. Looking ahead, is there any value left in the name Northern Rock? Can you see any way that the company will remain independent?

9. How can we make sure the sale process is better than the rescue effort? Who is running the auction – you, the Bank or the Treasury? How much funding will be needed by February for the Bank to be paid back in full and all liabilities met? The mortgage book is said to be high-quality with below-average arrears and default rates, but is that still the case?

10. One final question for Mr Ridley: do you feel you have acquitted yourself well as chairman, do you feel qualified as a full-time zoologist to chair one of Britain’s banks and do you feel customers, shareholders and employees have confidence in your ability to oversee the sale process now?

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