Does the government really want the City to recover and prosper? On one level, of course it does. Ministers and officials need this powerhouse of growth to continue to create jobs, fire confidence and provide some of the tax revenues that are so badly needed to diminish the yawning deficit in the nation’s finances. This is why, when they are visiting the City to make speeches, politicians say how much they like it.

But on another level, I really am starting to wonder whether the government knows what it wants or, indeed, whether it even cares all that much about the City of London's reputation. The recent shenanigans at Royal Bank of Scotland, involving the dramatic dismissal of chief executive Stephen Hester following pressure from ministers, represented an extraordinary moment. It illustrates how much has changed since the crisis of 2008 in terms of sentiment - and basic assumptions about the proper role of government - that this could happen and a Conservative Chancellor could be proud that it did.