The chancellor should ditch the NatWest retail share offer. It’s not needed | Nils Pratley

The Treasury has been quietly selling off the government's stake at ever-higher prices on a rising market. Why mess with that?

The government's plan to sell shares in NatWest to the general public is so advanced that the odds on the chancellor pulling the plug on a pet project are slim. Investment bankers from Barclays and Goldman Sachs are doing their well-remunerated stuff, and M&C Saatchi is knocking up some adverts. The go-ahead for a rah-rah pre-election retail share offer is expected any week now.

In a rational world, though, Jeremy Hunt would call the whole thing off. He already has a tried-and-tested method for disposing of the state's NatWest shares and - this is the point - it is working splendidly.