Douglas Carswell's Blog

Pot calls kettle black?

Nick Clegg has apparently "hit out at suggestions that Bob Diamond might receive substantial renumeration despite his resignation as boss of Barclays".

I can understand the attraction of banker-bashing populism if you happen to be the leader of the Lib Dems and on single figures in the opinion polls.  But is Nick's outburst wise?

Unlike Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, we have not yet reached a stage where political leaders can decide these things on a whim.  It is up to the those who own Barclays to decide the terms and conditions of employment of those who work for them. 

Perhaps some Lib Dems have never quite forgiven Barclays for not accepting state handouts back in October 2008?

Politicians might want to think hard before they go too far down the "let's take away their payoffs" path.  What is good for the goose - and all that ...

If Barclays and others are guilty of having occasionally manipulated lending rates, politicians and central bankers are guilty of fixing lending rates systematically.  Even today, the political class still insists that we fix the price of credit keeping interest rates articifically low.

If Barclays and others rigged rates to help them get through the early stages of the credit crunch, politicians ran a low interest rates racket for years, causing the crunch in the first place.  

The Leveson inquiry began as an investigation into the press - but ended up putting the political elite in the dock.  I suspect any investigation into what went on at Barclays will see the British oligarchy on trial, too.

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