Paul Tucker rather drove a steamroller over his hopes to be the next Bank of England Governor during his testimony to the Treasury Select Committee yesterday. We said on Coffee House last night that the suggestion that Tucker and co discussed a possible manipulation of Libor as far back as 2007 had seriously wounded his bid – although Tucker argued that he ‘thought it was a malfunctioning market, not a dishonest one’. Paddy Power agreed that Tucker was in trouble – and has duly lengthened the odds against Tucker getting the job. Before his appearance, he was 6/4, but those odds are now 5/2.
The new favourite for the job, according to Paddy Power, is not Lord Turner, but Gus O’Donnell, who currently has odds of 15/8, while Turner is on 7/2. Fraser wrote back in May that Lord O’Donnell’s candidacy ‘sends a dangerous message about the quality of candidates to succeed Sir Mervyn King’ and pointed to an interview with House magazine in which GOD argued that it would have been dangerous to put income tax back to 40p, which was the plan under Gordon Brown as well.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in