Diamond pushes back

The question of what to do with the banks is a sore point in Westminster — and the Barclays boss Bob Diamond has just aggravated it. According to Sky’s Mark Kleinman, he suggested to a meeting of Barclays investors last week that the bank might move its headquarters away from London as a result of the Banking Commission’s proposed changes for the sector. “It’s not a question of whether Barclays wants to stay in the UK,” quoth Diamond Bob, “but whether the UK wants Barclays to be here.” In rhetorical terms, it’s a significant escalation of his previous statement, in March, that Barclays had an obligation to consider moving if doing so would boost returns for its shareholders — not least because he added, back then, that “London is where we want to be. This is home and where we want to stay.”

It also augurs a fraught autumn for the coalition’s banking reformers.