Bailout may fail, say Tucker

"It hasn't been an entirely comfortable few days," conceded Tucker, who replaces the Bank's Deputy Governor, Sir John Gieve, in March. "I think it has a reasonable chance," he said of the plans. "There are no silver bullets, but I think it's a good package. It's not absolutely guaranteed to succeed."

The Government announced on Monday, just three months after its first £500 million bailout, that it would insure banks against losses from risky assets in a bid to kick-start lending.