Did you realise raising money could be so exciting and raise so many political passions? The political reverberations of the financial problems at the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS), rail franchises, the public-private partnership on the London Underground and the search for a 'Third Way' financing for Railtrack have convulsed Westminster and much of the media for many days. Bankers who put up money for NATS, consultants who slaved over the Tube and fund managers who invested in Railtrack shares may not have realised that they were participating in a struggle for the soul of the Government.

Many Labour MPs were long-standing opponents of a private sector company owning and running the railway lines. They were unhappy when their own Government then sold off NATS. Leading Government members kept stressing the need for partnership and co-operation with the private sector, thinking that language would be more calming than calling their proposals privatisation.