Barclays: “Shouldn’t we hear some answers before the condemned man is whacked?”

Timely analysis from Iain Martin on a trigger happy populism that could easily get out of hand… with a language straight out of Sean O’Casey…

what is slightly depressing is the sanctimonious lynch-mob mentality which currently prevails. It was there over Hester’s bonus and Sir Fred, sorry Mr Fred, Goodwin’s knighthood.

So intense has been the clamour from some MPs that Diamond is in the bizarre position of having been forced out before he has had a chance to try and explain himself in front of a parliamentary committee. The hearing will go ahead despite his resignation.

Is it generally not better to wait a few days to hear what someone has to say before sending them to the scaffold? The thirst for blood seems so over-powering that instead we want people dispensed with first; then afterwards we listen to their pleas and evidence.

Diamond, it might be said, is a special case. His bank has been fined £290m for its part in rate-fixing. But how high did it go? Which procedures and individuals failed? Shouldn’t we hear some answers before the condemned man is whacked?

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.