We already know that the Government tried to slip out lots of bad news (including crucial evidence of the hardship caused by the Bedroom Tax) in a giant Take out the Trash day before Christmas, but the Financial Conduct Authority used Hogmanay to slip out the fact that it wasn’t going to bother with publishing a review into banking culture. Apparently it “wouldn’t help.” Try telling that to the people who suffered as a result of one of the worst crashes in history.
Tim Farron was on this one straight away and ended up getting quoted pretty widely. He said:
The public are rightly fed up with the banking sector marking its own homework and cutting out anyone with a critical eye. Any hope of change and progress has been dashed, with a very clear return to businesses as usual.
Cosy decisions between the banks and politicians, and a toothless regulator, lead us to one of the biggest financial crashes in living memory. The high risk players in the banks were left to gamble with public money, with little care for what may happen.
When the banking sector faces trouble, British livelihoods are on the line. To do anything other than operate with complete transparency, and with proper checks and balances, will be reckless and will undermine public trust.