The best news from Mansion House last night was in the gossip: bankers predict it will be five to seven years before the entire RBS stake is sold.
This may not be what RBS management wants to hear, but a lengthy, staged sale is absolutely vital to ensure a good outcome for taxpayers.
That way, unlike with Royal Mail, there is a far better chance of avoiding the galling prospect of a state-owned asset being largely sold at what transpires to be too low a price.
It would also ensure that the country gets to share in more of the upside from the remainder of RBS management’s restructuring programmes.
Lest we forget, this includes the sale of its 40.8% sale of the giant Citizens bank in the US and, if you listen to some analysts, a potential £10 billion share buyback in 2016.
That’s worth the taxpayer sticking around for.
