As the search begins for someone to fill Stephen Hester’s hunting boots and the City awaits publication – expected tomorrow – of the report from the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, this is a good time for regulators and politicians alike to reflect on their role in adding feet and inches to the tallest order in UK banking.

There's an argument that parliamentarians would have been better off leaving UKFI to manage its investment unmolested by grand-standers more interested in scoring easy political wins at bonus time than supporting the firm in its long convalescence.