From the BBC’s Nick Robinson:
The government is to set up a wider inquiry into banking to report by the end of the year.
It will not be a full Leveson-style public inquiry. However, it will be separate from, and much wider than, the inquiry already announced into the abuses of LIBOR – inter-bank lending rate – at Barclays and other banks.
The aim will be for its conclusions to lead to instant changes in the law in the Financial Services Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
The chancellor will spell out the detail this afternoon. I understand that the prime minister and the deputy prime minister have met this morning to agree the details.
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6 Comments
Will it include the role of the Chancellor and Treasury in the manipulation of market interest rates via the Old Lady and her MPC I wonder?
I thought not. Denial. The system has been a fraud since the BofE and Barclays were founded within four years of each other 320 years ago. It’s not likely to change via the political establishment.
But it needs to. And they are ignoring it.
I know that the powers that be are concerned that if they muck about too much with banking that it will go elsewhere. At this point, so be it: I am not saying this lightly as the change would be convulsive and painful. It’s clear that finance’s behaviour has reached a point where it’s intolerable and indeed, detrimental towards confidence in UK plc. We have other things we can do, such as specialise in information technology: we merely need to have the courage to establish a sound system of finance to support the economy, not be its centre.
On the other hand, banking globally is toxic. If we here can build new institutions that are less so, we can also be ahead of the game perhaps.
I hope the enquiry’s conclusions will not be instantly included in the FS Bill; that is a matter for parliament itself.
“The system has been a fraud since the BofE and Barclays were founded within four years of each other 320 years ago. ” Hmm. We had no meaningful economic growth before, and huge economic growth during. I just don’t see this as 320 years of fraud on the public, myself.
Lib Dem Mp’s are set to back the Tory motion for a parliament led inquiry and not a public enquiry.
The Government are about to make their biggest mistake so far with the British electorate.
To try and avoid another Leveson, and limit the scope of the banking inquiry is going to be electoral suicide.
They think they can control this, and keep it within Westminster, and perhaps land a few blows on Labour. They couldn’t be more wrong.
They clearly have no idea that bankers are despised by 95% of the British population.
The public will not forgive them if there is not as full public inquiry as soon as possible.
Now that Labour has suggested that the public enquiry is split into two parts, with the abuses of LIBOR to be reported on by Christmas and the wider enquiry to completed within a year, there is no reason why the Lib Dems should not support this motion. Their previous excuse was that a public enquiry would take too long, which will now not happen. Its time for the Lib Dems to vote in the public interest , just because they are in a coalition government does not mean they have to slavishly support a Tory proposal which does not have public support. Put public interest above party politics please.