If you can keep your head...

For the second day running British high streets looked more like Harare or Buenos Aries as panic-stricken savers queued to get their money out of Northern Rock. My reaction is defined as much by parochialism as by personal circumstances. On the one hand I've always been with Brecht - "It's easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up a bank clerk" - when it comes to the global banking system, added to which my money's safely tucked away in building societies and it's about time binge borrowers and house prices had a reality check. On the other, Northern Rock donates a lot of money to important causes in the region - I can't see Barclays or Lloyds TSB doling out grants for art exhibitions in Ashington or refuge shelters in Redcar - and thousands of local jobs will go if, or more likely when, the business fails.