Darling under fire as he unveils new bail-out agency

CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling came under fire for his handling of the financial crisis today as he unveiled a government-owned company to oversee the £37billion bank bail-out plan.

Former Lloyds finance director Sir Philip Hampton was made chairman of the new body — UK Financial Investments Ltd. It is a company owned by the Treasury to oversee the part-nationalisation of RBS, HBOS and LloydsTSB.

Mr Darling also appointed senior Treasury mandarin Sir John Kingman as the chief executive of UKFI. In a move that will make it one of Britain's largest companies, UKFI will in time also manage Bradford and Bingley and Northern Rock.

Mr Darling and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King were criticised during a meeting of the Treasury select committee today by members of the public angry that banks are being bailed out while the taxpayer receives nothing in return.