MPs Right to Vote in Favour of Parliamentary Inquiry

Ed Miliband and David Cameron clash over Barclays inquiry 

The Barclays banking scandal has again reignited the need for transparency in the British political and banking sectors. Three senior Barclays executives have left their posts after the manipulation of a key inter-bank borrowing rate by Barclays traders. The manipulation made Barclays appear to be a much more lucrative investment for traders, and eventually cost the bank a fine of £290million.

This criminal activity from the bank forced the House of Commons to launch a Parliamentary Inquiry into "professional standards in the banking industry". Yet the Labour Party was not of the belief that this was enough. Ed Miliband had proposed a two-stage public inquiry that would focus on the allegations facing Barclays to report by the end of this year, followed by a ‘Leveson-style’ year-long probe into banking standards and practices. Surely Mr. Miliband must be aware that this pain-staking long mode of investigation is just not necessary. People in this country are battling with a double dip recession and crippling financial constraints. The last thing they want to hear is that we may have some recommendations regarding improving the banking system at the start of 2014. We want action now!

And it is exactly those types of calls that were answered by MPs, who voted for a parliamentary inquiry by 330 votes to 226, a majority of 104. So what we as the public require now is a rigorous, detailed examination of exactly how the banking system currently operates, where its pitfalls are located, and legislative changes to combat those pitfalls.

Prime Minister David Cameron told the Commons: "People want to know that crime in our banks, crime in our financial services, will be pursued and punished like crimes on our streets." People want to know that executives running banking and financial institutions are behaving responsibly, and if they are found not to be doing so, that they are held accountable for their actions and correctly punished as a result. Altering interest rates for the benefit of an institution is a criminal offence and deserves a criminal punishment.    

Currently, Barclays has been slapped with a multimillion pound fine and three executives have left the company by their own choice. Not only were they not sacked, they may even receive vast pay-offs after leaving their positions! Justice well and truly served again. The Treasury Select Committee need to get to the bottom of this inexplicable mess as soon as possible in order not to risk further speculative gambles from executives who are well aware that the worst punishment they will currently receive is to be potentially asked if they would leave their job in return for a lucrative sum of cash. Over to you Dave..