THE BOB DIAMOND SHOW

I watched yesterday´s live coverage of the “show trial” of Barclays Bank boss Bob Diamond when he was questioned by a group of MPs over the banking industry. It was a great shame that the TV cameras were actually allowed to screen the proceedings because it just made the MPs “play up to the camera.” It was indeed a show trial with Diamond being questioned on many issues which were completely irrelevant.

It is all very well for MPs asking the banks to apologise but shouldn´t they do the same over the expenses scandal? Bankers have now become public enemy number 1 and they are being blamed for all the world´s economic woes. But surely the lack of regulation within the banking industry contributed to the crisis. Diamond is right; banks should no longer have to apologise for their alleged sins of the past.

Also, in the case of Barclays and the other banks which didn´t take the golden handshake from the government, they should be able to pay their staff what they like. At the end of the day they are private companies who answer to their shareholders. If they want to reward staff they should be able to do so. After all hard work, achievement and bonus related pay is meant to be one of our economic pillars, or has that been scrapped as well?