The following is a transcript of a BBC radio interview with Bank of England governor Mervyn King. In it he is pressed over the provision of a government guarantee to depositors of Northern Rock, which was not effected until four days after the central bank provided £16bn (€22.9bn) on emergency funding to the UK bank.

King is questioned over whether he advised UK Chancellor Alistair Darling to provide the government guarantee, and whether the Treasury acted too late to prevent the run on the bank. It remains unclear from the interview why there was a delay in providing the guarantee, although King apportions some of the blame to procedural issues such as legal agreements and managing public perception.