Our ante just got a little larger

It seems that the bankers, who were surprised by Brown's announcement yesterday on guaranteeing mortgages, have estimated that the scheme will cost the taxpayer somewhere between £100 million and £1 billion. The difference partly reflects the optimism of the government as against the realism of the banks, and partly because all the details have not been worked out yet.

That the banks were bounced into it and have reservations (- for one thing it will add administrative costs to the banks), is a reflection of Brown's urgency. The expensive and generally derided VAT reduction seems unlikely to achieve much, so he has to have another grandstanding wheeze.

So our commitment as taxpayers has increased by anything up to £1 billion, as part of his gamble to get re-elected. The objective is political rather than economic or social. Give him credit for coming up with something else to enhance his messiahship.