Dunfermline unathletic

So Britain’s 12th largest building society goes bust – and the chairman complains that the chancellor isn’t bailing it out.

Stunning! If, as some suggest, the Dunfermline Building Society is a victim of reckless lending, what possible obligation does Mr Darling have to bail it out?

I’m not suggesting foul play, but I am suggesting that unacceptable risks were taken and that the taxpayer should not be involved in trying to shore up failed institutions.

It’s been known that the Dunfermline Building Society was going bust for several weeks. But there’s been no Northern Rock-style run on it, and that’s because the savers have confidence in the government’s pledge to make good their losses.

The question we are bound to ask is: how many more Dunfermlines are there? No-one knows. We are, I fear, still at the beginning of the beginning.