Eddie Barnes: Mea culpa, mea culpa

THE gang of four who presented themselves to the Commons Treasury Select Committee this morning - Sir Fred Goodwin, Sir Tom McKillop, Lord Stevenson and Andy Hornby - were falling over themselves to say sorry during their grilling by MPs. There wasn't the usual mealy-mouthed formulation you tend to hear at this occasions ("if people feel that we have done something out of place, then of course we are sorry about that") but full-frontal, no-nonsense embarrassed apologies for getting everything so horribly wrong.

Good. But now the mob want more. David Cameron hit the airwaves this afternoon to declare that, now that the banks have said sorry, it is time Gordon Brown did so as well. "I think it is now time we had some apologies and admitting to mistakes from the Government," he declared.

Don't hold your breath. Despite efforts from within Downing Street - where aides are said to be eager for Brown to show some humility- Brown has so far resisted the urge to offer up his own mea culpa. The closest he came was his statement last week that plans to toughen up banking regulations could be seen as "an acceptance that it wasn't strong enough" beforehand. Not exactly crystal clear is it? I very much doubt Brown is capable of standing up and simply saying sorry; he is hard-wired to resist giving such presents to his hated political opponents.

This is all very well, but, in this scenario, it won't wash. Something truly enormous has gone wrong and to simply blame it on America or the global banking system -as Brown has tried - will not convince people. To press on in this way, is to put the short-term political game before the far-greater prize of restoring some trust between him and the public.

So rather than jerking his knee in response to Cameron's words this afternoon, Brown should ask himself this: Why is Cameron demanding his apology? Might it be because the Tory leader know it is the one sure fire way to ensure Brown won't make one? Might Cameron actually want Brown to carry on in this manner? Why does Cameron continually bangs on about Brown "not being straight with people"? Because it works?

The PM should give Cameron what he asks for. The Banking chiefs have shown the way. Time to 'fess up.