We were useless on rate-rigging, says Tory MP

Published on 10/07/2012 01:32

A CONSERVATIVE MP tasked with investigating the Libor rate-rigging scandal said she and her fellow politicians were “useless” in uncovering the truth behind the affair.

The admission came from Andrea Leadsom, a member of the Commons treasury select committee that grilled Barclays’ chief executive Bob Diamond last week.

Her remarks are now likely to raise questions about whether a parliamentary inquiry will have the rigour to reveal the truth about the banking debacle.

Mrs Leadsom questioned the honesty of Mr Diamond’s evidence when he was cross-examined by the committee last Wednesday.

She said: “He was ridiculously unbelievable. When he said, at one point, he was ‘physically ill’ I felt like saying, ‘Can we see the sick bucket because otherwise we’re not going to believe you’. Terrible. Absolutely terrible.”

Mrs Leadsom said last week’s scrutiny of Mr Diamond was hamstrung by a lack of access to paperwork, including e-mail trails and recordings of meetings, which left the committee “batting in the dark”.

She said: “I don’t think we did a fantastic job either. It’s a fair criticism to say ‘You guys were useless’.”