Northern Rock and 125% LTV

The press has been alive today with the talk of Northern Rock apparently offering 125% LTV deals after it was state owned. One source referred to it as "toxic lending".

Toxic Lending?

Lets look at the actual Northern Rock "together" product. It was a 95% secured loan (i.e. a mortgage) and the remaining 30% up to a maximum of £25,000 was an unsecured loan that just happened to have the same rate as the mortgage.
This is NOT a toxic loan
The credit card companies that were extending £10,000+ credit limits to people as soon as they bought their first house - that was irresponsible, toxic debt.