WHO would trust a politician these days?

It was not that long ago that the politicians were queuing up to bash the bankers, taking special exception to those paid more cash than an MP’s expense account.

This has since swung full circle, to the extent where a certain level of hypocrisy has been raised in the court of public opinion.

Private sector businesses pay tax on profits, and are large contributors to the public coffers. Until recently, the biggest tax take has been from the financial sector.

The fact that profits have disappeared, and tax revenue with it, have left a black hole in the public finances.

It is clearly in the Treasury’s interests to have the banks profitable again, and handing over huge tax cheques, explaining why the Treasury stepped in to recapitalise the banks at the end of last year, when the private sector could not.

There is a strange situation in place now with regards to Lloyds Banking Group. The bank is repaying £4bn lent to it by HM Treasury, with an interest rate of 12 per cent. How the bank was meant to be profitable with interest charged at that level was not seriously challenged.

The repayment is being financed by shareholders taking up additional ordinary shares, having seen an appetite for risk capital return.

The Treasury is not keeping all of the £4bn-plus being repaid. It is reinvesting at least £1.74bn by buying further ordinary shares, in the same way private shareholders are doing so, in the open offer of discounted shares at 38.43p.

Why doesn’t the Treasury just keep the £4bn?

It clearly wishes to maintain its grip as the largest minority shareholder, and sees its purchase of ordinary shares as a way of making a huge profit in the long term.

Indeed, even in the very short term, HM Treasury stands to make an immediate profit on buying further Lloyds ordinary shares.

Based on the theoretical ex-open offer price, a gain of £1,416m would be realised.

That is on top of the £40m redemption gain on the preference shares and £200m interest paid on the preference shares.

In time there may well be a feeling that although the Treasury have bailed out some of the banks, the banks in turn will bail out the Treasury.

The last tranche of Royal Bank of Scotland ordinary shares bought by HM Treasury stand at a £1bn gain, meaning that the £5bn invested could in theory be sold off for £6bn. UK Investments Ltd, the holding company for the Treasury, has admitted that it is looking to sell on its stakes in due course, but is in no current rush to do so.

The stock market bull market rally, from the start of March to the start of May, has paused for breath in the last few weeks. The definition of a bull market is a gain of 20 per cent from trough to peak, and the FTSE 100 gained 27 per cent in this time.

The pause has been due to economic news being mixed, giving rise to a quandary over the next short-term direction of the stock market.

On the one hand, there is good news leading to further gains, and on the other, there is disappointment leading to setbacks.

The balance is on the side of good news.

■ Anthony Platts is a divisional Director in the Teesside office of Brewin Dolphin, and can be contacted on 0845-213-1340. All prices quoted in the article are from public sources. The views expressed are not necessarily held throughout the Brewin Dolphin Group. You should bear in mind that no investment is suitable for all circumstances and it is important to seek expert advice if in any doubt.

Brewin Dolphin Limited is a member of the London Stock Exchange, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.