Darling: I won't rule out merging Northern Rock & Bingley

ALISTAIR DARLING today refused to rule out a merger of nationalised Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley.

The Chancellor told MPs he was keeping his options open during the "fast-moving" crisis in the banking industry.

Challenged by the committee to deny that he planned a state-owned superbank, he said: "To make any specific comment like that at a time when things are changing rapidly... would be unwise. I will do whatever is necessary. We will do what is best in the public interest."

Mr Darling admitted that mistakes were made by government regulators in the run-up to the credit crunch. And, increasing pressure on Gordon Brown to give an apology, he said there was a need to show "humility".

He rejected calls to cap executive pay in banks bailed out by the taxpayer. Labour MP Nick Ainger said he should copy Barack Obama's $500,000 (£343,000) ceiling. But Mr Darling feared a brain-drain. "We have got to make sure that we don't end up with a situation where banks start attracting people who are key to making, say, RBS and the Lloyds Group work in the future," he said.

He added: "I want to get these banks off government hands so we can get our money back."

Analysts predict the City will pay £3.6billion in bonuses this year.

Earlier, Mr Brown was warned by one of his most influential MPs that he sounds "shrill and mechanistic" to the public. Jon Cruddas said David Cameron was more successful in capturing the public mood and appeared to be "the real deal".

"It's hugely dangerous," said Mr Cruddas, MP for Dagenham. "When we could appear shrill and mechanistic, Cameron is talking about relationships, empathy and fraternity."

Mr Brown was also pitched into a row with officials in Brussels who dismissed yesterday's reform proposals by Lord Turner as "European ideas wrapped in a British flag". The row broke as the PM arrived at a summit where he claimed to be selling Lord Turner's report as a British solution for the rest of the world to copy.

But one official snorted: "Lord Turner's proposals are European ideas wrapped in a British flag. In many ways they are a cut-and-paste of the La Rosiere report [a recent EU study]." Today's summit was called to agree measures on the recession ahead of the London G20 summit on 2 April.