Bank intervention swells public sector to six million - papers

In some parts of the country almost one in three workers will be employed by the State, as bankers and financiers join nurses, doctors and council workers on the government payroll. Overnight 233,000 staff from the Royal Bank of Scotland, 70,000 from Lloyds TSB, 65,000 from HBOS and 3,035 from Bradford & Bingley will effectively have a new boss. They will join the 6,500 who have already come over from Northern Rock and push total numbers of public sector staff to 6.12 million. The widening public sector is now sprouting tentacles in a number of new areas, as construction companies, adve...