Let's hope they are nicer than Northern Rock

Commenting on the Government committing another £37bn of taxpayers' money to be invested in banking giants RBS, Lloyds TSB and HBOS, Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, said: "Let us hope that RBS, Lloyds TSB and HBOS do more for borrowers than Northern Rock managed today.

"The now Government-run Northern Rock will only pass on a 0.15 per cent cut to its Standard Variable Rate from next month, not the full 0.5 per cent cut that was announced by the Bank Of England last week.

"It is all well and good of Northern Rock to moan about the Libor rate, but most of its major rivals have passed on the full 0.5 per cent to its customers stuck on an SVR. At 7.34 per cent, its SVR is still more than one per cent above the three-month Libor rate. That makes it a very profitable part of the Northern Rock business at the expense of its most vulnerable borrowers."