AS shares in Northern Rock slumped disappointingly again yesterday, questions about who is to blame were growing louder.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but senior figures are paid a lot of money to have foresight and it has proved to be lacking. There has been a gross underestimation of the knock-on effect of the company's appeal for emergency backing from the Bank of England.

Much as we support Northern Rock as a valued North-East institution, it is absolutely right that its management of the crisis is questioned.

It is also right that questions are raised about whether the Government acted quickly enough in calming public fears by guaranteeing savers' cash.

And Bank of England governor Mervyn King will justifiably face tough questioning today when he appears before Members of the House of Commons treasury select committee.

The Bank of England initially refused to prop up Northern Rock because it believed it would send the wrong signal to the banking sector.

But senior figures in the banking industry believe Mr King's refusal to flood the banking system with cash weeks earlier led to a crisis which has caused deep embarrassment throughout the sector.

In the end, the Bank of England was forced to step in, panic spread, and the result is the increasing likelihood that Northern Rock will be sold off at a discount.

Mr King has a hard task ahead in convincing MPs that more could not have been done to head off the crisis. His answers will be very interesting indeed.