Bob’s long afternoon at the crease

This afternoon’s rather lengthy Treasury Select Committee hearing with Bob Diamond suggests that Ed Miliband might be on to something with his calls for a judge-led inquiry. We were two hours into the session when John Thurso remarked:

‘If you were an English cricketer, I suspect your name would be Geoffrey Boycott… You’ve been occupying the crease for two-and-a-half hours and I’m not sure we’re a great deal further forward.’

If Boycott were watching, he’d remark that his mother could have batted away the majority of the questions thrown to Diamond with a stick of rhubarb. This committee meeting provided the former Barclays chief executive with a pretty flat pitch.

We learned that the Whitehall figures that Paul Tucker had told him were concerned about the bank’s Libor rate were ‘government officials’. Later Diamond said they were ministers. He said: 

‘I think what’s interesting is my reaction to that note was appreciation in Paul Tucker doing his job.