Nia Griffith MP is voting today for an independent judge-led inquiry into the latest banking scandal. The government is proposing a parliamentary inquiry but Labour is putting an amendment demanding an independent, forensic, judge-led public inquiry into the culture and professional standards of the banking industry to be completed within 12 months and paid for by banks.
Speaking about the latest banking scandal, Nia said
“I am glad that Bob Diamond, Chief Executive of Barclays, has at long last accepted that he cannot escape the criticism against him, and has resigned, but I do wonder why it took him so long. The first thought that most of had last week that this scandal is not just about a few rogue traders but a despicable culture of greed, and, it seemed pretty obvious that either their line-managers were incompetent or they knew what was happening. I found it hard to believe that Bob Diamond himself was not aware of the type of activity going on, and I thought it shameful and cowardly that he was prepared to blame others and not take full responsibility himself. Now we need a thorough, wide-ranging and independent inquiry, and those responsible for the LIBOR scandal should be prosecuted using legislation on fraud.”