Is there a glimmer of hope that, five years after seeing their stakes wiped out by the sudden nationalisation and break-up of Bradford & Bingley, former shareholders will at least know how and why it happened?

Shipley MP Philip Davies is to be commended for getting a promise from Leader of the House of Commons Andrew Lansley to raise the matter with Chancellor George Osborne.

Mr Davies buttonholed Mr Lansley during Business Questions in the Commons when the minister said that the decisions taken by the previous Labour government in the run-up to the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley should be looked at.

The Labour government took control of the bank’s mortgages and loans, while B&B’s £20 billion savings unit and branches were bought by Santander.

Mr Davies said five years after the bank was taken into public ownership, shareholders and bondholders were no clearer to understanding what happened. He believes that Bradford & Bingley was treated unfairly in comparison to other banks in a similar situation, and called for Chancellor George Osborne to make a statement about what decisions were taken before that weekend in September 2008.

Mr Davies described the decision by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling as ‘flawed’.

While agreeing that the matter should be looked into and promising to speak to the Chancellor, Mr Lansley pointed out that Mr Osborne would not directly have access to the papers of the previous administration. Even so, he said it would be appropriate to find out more about the circumstances surrounding B&B’s demise.

This development will be music to the ears of David Blundell, chairman of the Bradford & Bingley Action Group.

This doughty campaigner has been plugging away for details of why B&B was broken up and treated so differently from Northern Rock, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland, which continued trading, in some cases with massive state bale-outs.

He has repeatedly accused the authorities, including the Treasury, the Cabinet Office and various regulatory bodies, of blocking his search for the truth through continuous obfuscation and subterfuge.

Even Freedom of Information requests have failed to break through the brick wall of official silence – which Mr Blundell says makes a mockery of the scheme.

And a bid to win compensation for former shareholders also came to nought after an inquiry by Peter Clokey, the independent valuer appointed by the previous government. Prime Minister David Cameron is also yet to respond to two letters from Mr Blundell asking if he thought the decision to nationalise B&B was correct, and seeking more information about the B&B decisions.

Mr Blundell is tenacious in his quest to get to the bottom of the B&B saga, saying BBAG will continue making a noise until answers materialise.

Some may say, why bother after all this time? But, I believe it is right that we know why the unthinkable happened.