Past may hold the key to the Rock's future.

(From The Journal)

Byline: Peter McCusker

NORTHERN Rock should be reincarnated as a building society rather than being sold off to ease Government debt, an influential report last night said.

The proposals from the Building Societies Association - which have won backing from both MPs and senior figures in the business world - say re-mutualisation of the bank will help the national economy and make it less likely to fall victim to another credit crunch.

Former Newcastle Building Society chief executive Bill Midgley last night welcomed the report, saying it would lead to greater lending into the mortgage market and would support North East jobs.

And with ministers pressing ahead with moves to sell off the Rock to recoup the billions of pounds of public money spent propping it up, a number of the region's MPs at the Labour Party conference in Brighton also called for the …