Murphy must break his silence over Dunfermline
Jim Murphy is not normally backward in coming forward.
The new-ish Scottish Secretary has been hyperactive in his efforts to prove that there is a role north of the Border for "Scotland's man in the cabinet", the UK cabinet that is.
Hardly a day goes by without Murphy popping up on our television screens or on the radio to make some point or other, to counteract the impression that Alex Salmond, the nationalist First Minister, is the only show in town.
Strange then that Murphy does not want to say anything at all about the crisis at one of Scotland's iconic financial institutions, the Dunfermline Building Society.
The Scotsman has revealed that the Dunfermline, the country's largest building society, is in trouble.
It is set to post a loss of £26 million for 2008 compared to a profit the year before of £2 million.
That does not sound like a big deal for a mutual with substantial assets and a large number of customers, but it is.
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Exposure to commercial property, led by its now ex-chief executive, Graeme Dalziel, appears to be the cause of the problems.
Other mutuals like the Yorkshire or the Nationwide have been approached to step in but, as things stand, appear not to be willing to do so
Which is where the UK government, responsible, after all, for financial regulation, should come in.
Murphy and his boss, Gordon Brown, must surely take some interest in this.
The Prime Minister is a Fife MP and will know the Dunfermline well. Yet so far, not a peep from Murphy or from Downing Street.
The Scottish Secretary's unexplained reticence is in contrast to that of Salmond who has said he stands ready to help do what he can to save another Scottish financial institution.
Now, it could be that Murphy and the UK government feel chastened by their experience over HBOS and the difficulties high level ministerial involvement the Lloyds take-over threw up.
But is is not unreasonable to expect Murphy - who has been briefed on Dunfermline - and Brown to say something, even if that might be to explain why they do not think it is appropriate, at this stage, to step in.
Willie Rennie the local Liberal Democrat MP has said he wants a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss his objective that the Dunfermline remains a "strong, independent, and mutual" organisation.
With more than 200 jobs involved and the future of a well-know Scottish brand at stake, Rennie's demand is entirely reasonable.
It is time for Murphy to break his silence.
