Of course the Northern Rock has acheived its excellent repayment results by selling off top quality mortgages. And just as naturally at the end of the day day our governement, on our behalf, will be left holding the remaining rubbish which will include all of the wholly unjustifiable 125% morgages.

John Paulson, Frodsham,

Surely the fact that Northern Rock loan rates are not competetive will mean that all the prime borrowers will move to more attractive rates, leaving only those who can not get approval for credit elsewhere? Increasing the percentage of defaults?

john, Solihull,

More incompitence from New Labour how much do they think we have to give!

Dean, Southampton, England

Banks are failing left, right and centre in the US and even their government isnt bailing them out at any cost. NR will cost us many many billions and all to save labours political face.

A Harris, Ketteing, UK

This is absurd.......we have young working people who can't afford to buy their own homes subsidising, via their taxes, many people who have been living beyond their means.

Added to that, they are required to bail out the catastrophic results of reckless lending. 'Nulabor'......what a travesty!

Shirley Bowen, Blackpool, UK

Let me get this straight. Labour refuse a private sector offer for Northern Rock because it does not value the company highly enough, and six months later it's losing 600m.

What Treasury genius valued NR and decided it would not be hit by the same defaults every other mortgage Bank is seeing?

jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/USA

My mum's 84. When she heard about the `loan' to Northern Rock she said `it'll all end badly'. Wow - my mum's got more brains than the Chancellor and the Prime Minister! Would anyone like to elect her?

Sue, Sheffield, UK

Lost £600 million!! It is probably in the same place as the missing social security disks. After all, Northern Rock is a Government Department and tainted by association. Try looking in the stationary cupboard.

Malcolm Turner, Alsager, England

So is the £3bn rights issue the governments way of legitimising their theft of NR? As they already own all the shares, nothing stops them diluting the previous holdings subject to legal action to 1%!?
As an effictively privately owned company, why does it need a rights issue to insert capital?

Mike O'Shea, Tonbridge,

Is it a coincedence that the Labour Government bails out and sustains the losses of a northern Bank with public funds, considering the majority of Labour support comes from the North? Would love to see what would have happened had it been a southern financial institution...

Darren Summers, London, UK

It makes more sense to nationalise the profitable energy and utility companies and not the bankrupt banks and get the people out energy poverty

Charlie, london, uk

Northern Rock is becoming a money pit, Labour's new British Leyland. If Northern Rock is not a viable business, it should be allowed to go under.
I thought that giving money from the government to failing businesses was illegal under EU law.

Michael Cawood, Wrexham, Wales, UK

Why should my taxes be used to bail out some idiots who fails to make their mortgage payments? How many of these people can still afford alcohol and cigarettes? I have had to make sacrifices so these people should as well! As for the shareholders! Don't get me started!

A Thorn, London,

Who owned the preference shares and at what price were they sold to the government? Were they convertible? Can you bully a preference shareholder into converting? Never mind, let's leave it all to the FSA I,m sure that it will be sorted out over a glass of port in the club.

Adrian, London,

I was under the impression that the government rescue of Northern Rock was supposed to be minimal risk and not cost us anything - more fool me for believing yet more government lies. Also as a taxpayer without a mortgage I gain nothing from the mortgage market being propped up

Dan, Winchester, England

Tom and Toby - The shareholders have already paid for the collapse of NR. Perhaps you can take some comfort in the fact that as a shareholder & a taxpayer I, like many, many others will end up paying twice for this fiasco.....

Matt, London, UK

What is needed is strict control over who borrows money for what purpose to ensure no overborrowing by silly people.

Joe, Hampshire,

"Northern Rock was nationalised! the free market would have seen it collapse - which would have been cheaper for all of us!!
Andrew, Cambridge, "
Well, apart from the little fact that the whole banking system could have collapsed too, which would have plunged the whole economy into total meltdown.

Robert C, London, UK

Never mind, easy come, easy go, eh Gordon.

Mike, Berlin,

For "rejigging" the balance sheet, read "rigging". What Darling has done is to shift the Rock's liabilities from "due now" to "on the never never", thus helping to keep it legally solvent. Its a shame he didn't ask us all if we wanted to risk OUR cash beforehand. "

Robert Kingsbury, Leeds, England

Reaks of continuing mismanagement. Is this a joke?

Can we rerenationalise anything else? Gas? Railways?

Mark , HH, Uk

Great isn't it.. When banks make profits, they go to the shareholders.. When they make a loss, the tax payer has to bear the burden..

Northern Rock should be left to fend for itself...

Hamad Lone, London, England

Miss Dee, this is not the free market. In the free market the Rock would have been left to collapse, which is exactly what should have happened. A labour gov't in control of a financial institution is the worst thing that could ever happen, labouring the tax payer with billions of debt for nothing!

Sean, London,

To Michael, Taunton, England

What if people don't have a mortgage, Michael? They should subsidise you! Cool!

klazwam, sheffield, UK

And even better news - the Olympics have yet to be paid for. Everyone was sooooo happy when we won.....funny, I've yet to read a comment from a self-confessed New Labour voter. They got in on landslides, but I can't find a supporter anywhere now. Idiots !!!

lou, the Fens, uk

This is what is known as a windfall tax-credit.

Sean, Surrey, UK

Nice to see Northern Rock operating like most nationalisd industries - at a loss.. As you get older apparently you regress to your childhood - well this is starting to feel a bit like the 70's alright !

Tony, Cardiff ,

People, is it the government's fault that banks are in the position that they are in? No. As for the british tax payer, people want top quality services, no hospital waiting lists, a well functioning economy, police...FOR NOTHING!!! People took on huge mortgages, THEIR OWN STUPIDITY!

Chris, Reading,

Well that was money well spent? I can't wait for the next bank that the goverment will buy with our taxes. Or a airline! Or even a house builder! Well done labour you can not stop this correction, all you do is just putting the date back, and making it even bigger...

oliver, colchester,

The banks have been investing in peoples misery and lending money to those that could never afford repayments. These private firms should never be propped up with our money. It's nothing to do with the USA 'cos our banks did it here. 'Credit crunch' is just an excuse term. The banks will win though.

Steve Webb, Braintree, Essex

Labour are giving another £3 billion of money it doesn't have to a company that may be unable to pay it back. The £6 billion or so it has repaid must be the easy bit. What happens when Northern Rock have to find money from householders who can't get another mortgage for a home in negative equity

Richard, Newcastle,

How the former Chief Exceutive must be enjoying himself with his mega pay off whilst the tax payer and employees (job losses announced) and shareholders (minimum compensation) who trusted in him and his brilliant Chairman pay for it. Nice work if you can get i

Linda, Nottingham, UK

Why not make the share holders pay out for the losses, or does a share holder just expect to get paid dividends when the company is making money?

Toby, Plymouth,

Should we all just send our account details straight to the treasury, for them to withdraw money whenever they want? The difference from the current situation would be minimal.

Spot the odd one out:

"No more boom and bust"

"Things can only get better"

"The Pope's a Catholic."

Jon Cooper, Herts, UK,

Cripes! That's £50 each gone down the tubes. Thanks, Alistair, you owe me one.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

And now, long after the decision was taken on our behalf, we are being told the true state of NR's finances and that surprise surprise, NR is in a much worse state than previously thought.

Surely a quick credit check before we lent NR the money would have sufficed? We didn't get that option though.

Barry, London, UK

I hope Northern Rock shareholders seeking compensation are taking note of these figures ! Perhaps they should be asked to make a contribution to these losses, after all every other bank in trouble seems to have gone to their shareholders for help.

Tom, London,

You live in a Dictatorship, what do you expect.

Mike, Berlin,

The government, with all of us buying our own homes in the North East and the rest of the country, had no alternative but to bail out Northern Rock. This move is protecting ALL! home buyers from the mortgage market collapsing. The' tax payer's ' investment is in all our interest. Stop! griping!.

Michael, Taunton, England

It is obvious that GB & AD are out of their depth here. You cant keep throwing taxpayers money at this failed financial instution.

Louis, Liverpool, UK

Miss Dee - its NOT a free market - Northern Rock was nationalised! the free market would have seen it collapse - which would have been cheaper for all of us!!

Andrew, Cambridge,

Why fat cats don't bale truble banks not pure people taxed havelly.
Genios with inovation should be paid bonuses.Those bankers and rest actors musicions etc are pople on the right places not jeniouses.
taxpayer bale bank who charge them 2.5 times more than u borowed.

zvezdan, london, uk

So this government takes Northern Rock from private investors, pays off its debts using public money, shores up the balance sheet and guarantees the deposits using public money, then, when ready, it expects to sell it back to private investors?!

Prudence? Or complete loss of reality?

George Sampsa, London, UK

Disgrace! Whilst the good old British money cow, sorry I mean tax payer, is taking hits left, right & centre, this excuse of a government sees fit to lend money, then right it off to a private company!
I think its only fair I do not pay my tax this year as im struggling!

Pete, St Albans, England

The 'free market' is sure expensive for taxpayers!

Miss Dee, Tayside, UK