SIR – In their continued desperation to convince middle England that a housing bubble and massive consumer debt is somehow good for both them and the economy, the coalition have shamelessly exploited every Keynsian (socialist) trick in the book.

Of course, giving banks our money to lend to businesses has not had precisely the desired effect, in that, the risk-averse banks have either hoarded the money or gambled it on the Stock Exchange.

In the case of RBS – the bank we all own, incidentally – although they have occasionally deigned to lend to some businesses, they have introduced into the deal a financial instrument known as an ‘Interest Rate Swap’ (would-be borrowers take note), which ostensibly protects the borrower from rises in interest rates.

However, if interest rates go down, the repayments become grotesquely unaffordable. This has driven hundreds of small businesses into receivership and their assets into the growing property portfolio of RBS.

Rather than nailing those involved to the wall, incredibly, the Government have opened a real ‘People’s Bank’ (with our money) specifically for the purpose of loaning to business.

Perhaps the dream of a socialist Utopia is not too far away?

Christopher Hindle, Osterley Grove, Bradford