Andy Hornby should apologise to the public and acknowledge he hasn't got a clue about what he is doing.His smug arrogant demeanour is an absolute disgrace and an insult to ordinary hard working decent people north and south of the border.

Rajeev, London,

What has the Labour MP for Halifax got to say about this? Is she outraged and threatening to call a by election? When will English MPs start to look after the interests of their constituents?

Derek, Southampton, England

Dealing with HBOS was a nightmare with front-line staff unable to answer simple queries. The new enlarged bank can be no worse , it might even be better.

Ken, Edinburgh, UK

Prior to the merger with the Halifax The Bank of Scotland was an excellent bank with prudent and canny management and it rated very highly in customer satisfaction tables.The merger with The Halifax ruined it.Most Scots are furious at what has happened to it and I for one will be closing my account

Kate McGibbon, Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland

Brown is now acting like a tinpot dictator, bypassing the law when he feels like and offering grubby little bribes to his banking buddies. He should be removed from office immediately.
.

dave, cannock, England

Too bad for the Jocks. I don't recall any concern over English jobs when RBS took over NatWest. Is anybody saying that Jocks don't work south of the border?? I know of a couple of very prominent ones who have been very much involved in the 'running' of the UK.... Pure Scottish nationalism.

Peter, Winchester, England

The last I heard, Scotland was a part of the UK. Isn't this supposed to be a merger anyway? HBOS is the bigger bank in this merger and it stands to reason they would want to see their Scottish employees protected in some way. England isn't the UK, only a part of it.

Derek, East Yorkshire uk,

Its amazing to see all this English-Scottish tirade when the real culprit was across the Atlantic. The US banking system created all this mess by lending recklessly and then selling the debt on to gullible banks all over the world. This was nothing more than a scam and we have all been duped.

Chris, Houston, USA

I think it says that Edinburgh will be the bank's Scottish HQ. The Global HQ will be London. By extrapolation, the English HQ could be Halifax for instance. In other words its all smoke and mirrors.

Peter Wright, Horsham, West Sussex

Certainly the shareholders of the Lloyds should reject the deal. They will lose the high dividend for which they invested and it will only be in shares.

Ramesh Thakrar, London , England

The whole thing is nothing other than an attempt to protect the Labour vote and Brown's image (in Scotland) !

Tom Sheridan, Woodbridge, UK

As a HBOS employee, to keep scottish jobs over the rest of the UK is at best corporate racism. Needless to say, we have had scottish leaders for the last 11 years!!!!

Mark, Chester, UK

Having worked for HBOS in the past, here's a couple of points being overlooked.
1) Scots staff are paid less than Eng. counterparts. Keeping jobs in Scotland makes economic sense for a bank looking to cut costs.
2) The HQ in Edinburgh has recently been refitted at great expense and makes a great HQ

Phil Stott, new york, via Dundee

that won't make Gordy popular in Glenrothes

peter c, Devizes, Wessex

As a Scot I have no interest in keeping my account anywhere else but with a Scottish bank. If Bank of Scotland ceases to exist I will transfer immediately to the Royal or Clydesdale bank. I know that I am not alone in this and am sure Lloyds will have taken a pragmatic view about retaining customers

Phil, Edinburgh, Scotland

Theres no need for bad feeling. Fact is that this is business and nothing to do with scotland against england or vice versa .Bank of Scotland is the oldest bank in Europe and was the 1st to print its own notes - this would protect the banks heritage. Most jobs will be in England.

Colin, Halifax, UK

I've banked with Lloyds TSB and before the the TSB all my life. My father was a manger of the old TSB.

I'm now in the process of selling all my shares and the shares inherited from my father, closing my savings and current accounts and moving the funds elsewhere.

Tom, Sheffield,

I thought Lloyds TSB were purchasing HBOS? If so, they should be dictating terms not HBOS, or sticky fingers Brown and his Scottish biased Government.
If Brown is prepared to "waiver normal competition rules" now, he will want his pound of flesh later. Eric stay well clear,

Mike, Swaffham, Norfolk

J Bentley in Portugal, this may come as a surprise to you but many people in the North of England & Wales vote Labour. A better alternative might be for the South-East of England to go it alone and let the rest of us concentrate on our better quality of life which is not based on material wealth.

J Whiteside, Lytham, Lancashire, England

I really dont see a problem. No argument, Let's have scottish independence. Us English can't wait for it. Stop criticising England and just do it. Go on. Go on.

Mike Slaw, manchester, UK

Scottish politician in Westminster do not care about England. Our time will come. It is not the first time Scotland has benefitted in this manner.

steve tea, manchester, cheshire

Give the Scots their independence please and we need not hear from them or Labour ever again as England will vote Tory forever, and there need be no Scots in English parliaments.
Sorry David Cameron you'll need go to with your name.

jbentley, loule, portugal

Why is Mr Hornby staying - he, and the rest of the board, have presided over a massive loss of shareholder value and should resign

Paul, Lisburn, UK

Brown has his grubby hands all over this deal and hopes we shall think he is the hero to the rescue and gain some praise and Scottish votes along the way. From the 10p fiasco as Chancellor I am afraid I suspect everything he says and does.

R Grant, Whitstable,

Yet more anti-English racism from this scottish/ Labour government. Roll on the election!

Peerage for Sir Victor? - surprised he didn't get one when he was chairman of Trinity Mirror/Daily Mirror.

American Eric Daniels is happy running the larger bank irrespective of which country loses jobs.

David, London,

Brown meddling again. How can you say that Scottish jobs are more valuable than English ones. That is wrong. Do the people in England work any less hard than their Scottish colleagues or vice versa? Its going to be painful to all concerned and my heart goes out to all involved. Good luck to all.

Rupert, London, UK

Having secured Scottish jobs, Brown will seek further payback from LLOY, either by imposing a windfall tax on future profits or by threatening to remove their monopoly advantage. LLOY are particularly vulnerable to political risk and would be ill-advised to rely on anything Brown has promised them.

Melchet, Edinburgh, UK

This is typical of this government and its pro Scottish views. I, for one, will be transferring all the Lloyds bank accounts i have to other banks and i suggest that ortheres do the same.

Malcolm, Solihull, West Midlands

what halifax have done is taken a scottish bank, run it to the ground, and then sold it to another british bank. thats hardly fair so i can understand teh preferntial treatment for the scottish.

tony, leeds,

Cause and effect

In the 1950s the Scots Nats were insignificant.
At the coronation Union flags were displayed enthusiastically in Scotland where many people voted Tory.
After rececession in Britain English companies reduced their Scottish branches first.
Result, the gradual rise of SNP.

Jan Stewart, Harrow, Middlesex

Over forty years ago contract conditions between Rolls Royce and the government specified that after a few years work would be transferred to Scottish factories from Derby. Jobs were lost or not grown in Derby as a result.

Fred, Horsham,

Helen Wright must know that there is no English govenment in the UK. Westminster is the seat of the British Government which is UK elected and it handles English domestic legislation! Scots, Irish,Welsh and English have a right to be PM and Chancellor. It can change if there is English devolution

John Edgar, Cupar Fife, Scotland

If ever proof were needed that Britain has a Scottish government....

It's worrying that both British institutions claimed by the credit crunch were run by head offices outside of London - had their bosses been in the city and on the ball it's possible neither might have behaved so recklessly.

edward green, Upminster,

Calm down, calm down! It's the weekend!!!!!

Sean Southall, Linlithgow, Scotland

Perhaps the scottish employees of HBOS have been misinformed. This is not a merger it's a takeover. Get real and accept the realities that invevitably result from such actions rather than blantantly pulling the sheepish "auld enemy" card....

Dan, london, uk

This is a no win situation for Brown & Labour. Alex Salmond will get the credit for saving Scottish jobs and Brown will be blamed for the loss of English & Welsh jobs. Another nail in Labour's coffin. Excellent!

Peter Hastings , Folkestone, England

Favouring the Bank of Scotland part of the company is absolutely justified - it was the English mortgage-lending part of the company that caused most of the problems. The Scottish part is well run. It is also a significant pat of the Scottish economy. If anyone is at fault, it is the London City.

John E. Dunn, Edinburgh, UK

Lloyds gains market shares, HBOS will survive, and Gordon Brown has a hope to win Scottish voters. It's a win-win deal for those 3. Or no? Short sighted in GB's case, but still in his favor for a while. And Lloyds will find a way to scrap cheap mortgages and loans, I'm sure. The capital wins, again.

Karen, WSM,

It's about time someone made this point. The town of Halifax and many families there are almost completely economically dependent on HBOS. Wide ranging job losses will kill the town. The same cannot be said of Edinburgh...

Fiona, London,

M,

I think you'll find that TSB, a Scottish bank, took over Lloyds so your assertion that the Bank of Scotland is being "saved by an English bank" is quite wide of the mark.

JAD, Edinburgh, Scotland

The statement of their intention to save jobs in Scotland versus England must come near to collective racial discrimination.

Looks like a legal job for the Bliars.

geoffthereff, Bolton, UK

Competition rules exist to protect the public - waiving them, and creating a massive organisation, is bad for the public (and it appears for the English in particular)

It's time that Scotish MPs had not part to play in governing the English.

W Smith, Manchester,

Another example of politically correct predudice.
Why are there so many scots at the top of business and politics? The scots answer would be that they are good at their job. Now if if the roles were reversed and it were english way in front (relative to pop) the scots answer would be predudice.

andy e, oxford, uk

Diversionary tactics. If you think this is unfair, should Mr. Hornby, CEO of HBOS get £2 million worth of shares in the new Lloyds-HBOS bank and keep his 250,000 share options?

Your anger should be aimed at the fact that Hornby watched HBOS self destruct then gets a handsome reward for it.

ian, Ediburgh, Scotland

Just one more reason on the already huge pile to get the break with Scotland finally over and done with and Scottish politcians back up north of the border where they can meddle with their own affairs to their hearts content.

Paula I, Warks, England

Scotland always gets preferential treatment. what's new?

John Ledbury, Kings Lynn, England

Let's get the facts straight here.

Lloyds + TSB = English + Scottish
Halifax + Bank Of Scotland = English + Scottish

So, in fact, a British bank has been saved by another British bank, to the benefit of all the British people who had mortgages and savings with that bank. Hooray for the UK.

CB, London,

It is down right missleading to say that the CEO will recive £2m of shares, his existing HBOS share will be converted to Lloys ones, saying he will be given £2m in shares is like saying if I take £1,000 out of my bank account my bank has 'given' me £1,000.

R, London,

Brown & Darling both signed the Scottish Claim of Right, in which they pledged that the interests of Scotland shall be paramount in everything they do.
Remind me then why English MPs find it acceptable for these 2 Scottish naitonalists to be in charge of England?
They make me sick.

Helen Wright, Yorkshire, England

Scotlands a charity case that needs all the help possible.

Jobs protected and higher taxbills for the English so that this British ? Government can spend more per person on the Scots than the English, so that the Scots can have everything free gratis. UK = Unequal Kingdom

Tom Long, Cirencester , England

You all miss the point. The bank of Scotland will be demerged at an appropriate moment so that Scotland, as a separate nation, will have its own national bank. Headquartered in Edinburgh. The key is the continuance of printing the national currency of Scotland. Gordon wants a Scottish peerage.

Chris Coles, Medstead, Alton, United Kingdom

Safeguarding and transferring jobs to Scotland is nothing new to Brown, he’s been protecting Scottish area’s for years. Tens of thousands of English civil servants have been made redundant, whilst their work’s been transferred from to Dundee and Glasgow. Is anybody interested NO, the unions don’t want to rock boats for their leaders.

Mike, Sheffield,

Isn't this racial discrimination?

Colin, Bridgwater, UK

It doesn't matter in the longer term. When the SNP achieve a majority at Holyrood and declare independence all of the major banks will relocate to England as this is where the financial markets are.

D, London,

What have Brown and Darling got to do with the whole matter? As far as I'm aware it's a private deal between two banks thats been encouraged by the government. Not clauses added by the governtment. Brown and Darling have done nothing for Scotland about time they did. KEEP THE JOBS IN SCOTLAND

David Evans, Aberdeen, SCOTLAND

Isn't gerrymandering re-drawing electoral constituency boundaries to benefit one party? I see no evidence of this here.

Bill Peter, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I see that they haven`t decided on a name for the bank yet.
How`s about `The English Owned Scottish National Bank 2008 Plc`. No tears from me either FlyingScotsman.

Ozzy, Oldham, UK

I certainly hope new labour is wiped out in the country they despise,England.

tally, Durham, England

Bank of Scotland was the junior partner in the merger with Halifax which formed HBOS, and HBOS is now the junior partner in the merger with Lloyds TSB. There is no jusification for having the headquarters of the new bank in Scotland rather than the financial capital of Europe, London.

Roger, London, UK

This article is strangely at odds with the article entitled "Salmond rallies bank chiefs to rescue Scottish jobs"
which suggests that the Westminster Gov is standing by while only the Scottish Gov is fighting to save jobs.
I'm no fan of Brown but he can't really win with press like this.

Gillian, Glasgow,

Scottish prime minister Scottish Chancellor and they are proctecting Scottish jobs. HHHmmmm! Will we (Welsh/English) remember this at the next election or will they try and buy us.

karl, Normanton, West yorkshire

Now that short selling has stopped the run against share price has ended. Although threats remain the primary motivation for this deal has been removed. LLOY does not have the reserves to support HBOS borrowing requirement. The merger is not required.

zogran, Reading, UK

Typical of the Scottish Mafia who are running (scared at) Westminster. Much good will it do them even in Glenrothes, where the SNP will trump their tartan card with their joker Alex Salmond.

Z Koder, Rye, UK

IF the head office goes to Scotland (WHY?) - then head office workers of a perfectly sound bank in London will loose their jobs.

Greater love hath no worker than to lay down his/her job to save Browns bacon.

Its amazing what some businessmen will do to get a Peerage.

TrevorsDen, OXON, UK

Unbelievable. If the Scottish clause goes in I don't think anyone in England and Wales will ever vote Labour again.

Will Harris, London, UK

HBOS is a British bank ... the new bank will also be a British bank.

Good to see that the sons of Scottish clans who live in England (like Mr Martin) are neutral on the crazy territorial nationalism that pervades in the UK these days.

Reiver, Borders, UK

Ther has been no mention of the branches or processing centres in Northern Ireland. Are our jobs not as important as those in the rest of the UK?

Mr smith, belfast, uk

HBOS was wrecked by the Halifax and their completely clueless CEO, who should have stayed at ASDA's checkout. BofS should never have bought them in the first place, what a shame!
And, to the English, now you know how the Scots felt under 18 years of the Tories! No tears from me!

FlyingScotsman, Edinburgh, Scotland

You haven't mentioned that the Head Office is to be domiciled in Edinburgh on Brown's insistence. Another cynical ploy ahead of a Scottish by-election.
Brown also says the regulatory regime needs strengthening - the very one he masterminded during his reign as the worst Chancellor ever.

Ponsonby-Smythe, Southampton, UK

Gordon is proud to let it be known that he brokered this deal. It includes a blatent attempt to buy votes in the Glenrothes by-election. If Labour still lose (which I expect they will) once again Gordon will have demonstrated bad judgement. He can't win a GenElection by alienating English voters.

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

Another example of this governments shameless gerrymandering.
They don't care how much English money they use to buy Scottish votes.

David Martin, Bristol, UK

If it is found that Brown or Darling are trying to save jobs in Scotland at the expense of jobs in England and Wales, then not only will Brown be finished, but Labour will be wiped off the map in England and Wales and quite rightly so.
Might this be an attempt to sway voters at the by-election?

jim, Swindon,

So Bank of Scotland is saved by an English bank and it's the English who lose their jobs?

Lloyds should pull out of this deal and let them sink.

M, London, UK