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Now, I may be wrong (you frequently fucking are, I hear some forumites shout) but I would have thought that if any group within British society needed a judicial inquiry to get to the bottom of the culture, what went wrong, who should be stuck with criminal charges etc etc it is the banks!

After all,

1. The world of investment banking nearly brought the entire British economy to its knees and we have been in the worst recession since the 1930's ever since.
2. The world of retail banking ripped us off with PPI insurance without in many cases telling us and as far as the self employed were concerned could never be claimed.
3. Banks forced small businesses to take complex derivatives packages in return for getting loans which turned out to be hugely expensive.
4. Traders fiddled the Libor rate for their own financial gain.
5. You would probably have been far better sticking your private pension money under your mattress over the last 10 years rather than giving it to pension funds.

But hey what seems perplexing is that Osborne and Cameron have been smearing Brown and Balls all week for stuff that their people alllegedly did during the crash in 2008/2009. Now you would have thought that Diamond Dave and Boy George would have been in favour of a judicial inquiry and Ed Miliband with a lot to lose if we believe Osborne's story would be in favour of a parliamentary inquiry run by the sort of tossers that "questioned" Bob Diamond earlier in the week and didnt lay a glove on him.

But no, forumites, it is the other way round. Miliband demanded a judicial inquiry which was far reaching and Diamond Dave demanded a toothless parliamentary inquiry and got his way.

Why so, dear forumites?

Well I guess that it is because Diamond Dave doesnt want to rock the boat. Since he became leader by far the biggest contributor to the Tory party funds is the financial sector including investment banks, hedge funds etc etc. Why rock the boat by putting his financial supporters in front of these lawyer types who ask searching questions. What if the shit really flows to the surface and the great British public demand the Tories do more than the watered down proposals they have put forward in terms of controlling the banks? It would be rather bad for Tory funds. That is why presumably Diamond Dave made a number of speeches in 2008 stating that Labour were being far too regulatory with regard to the banking industry and stifling the sector with regulations.

Not much chance of well paid jobs on City banks for MPs of any party if the golden goose is plucked, eh?

Go carefully and keep your hand on your wallet, now!

A word of advice David. I think as a New Labour nutball, it may be prudent for you to avoid this topic all together. There is a good chance that certain people in your party are knee deep in shit over this matter, Bob Diamond could have hung them out to dry, but thought the better of it. The media know it, the government know it, in fact EVERYONE in the country knows it, apart from you!

The serious fraud squad is now formally involved. This is the most effective way of all to sort the banks out, in other words scare them shitless.

I'm afraid Labours demands for a judicial enquiry were for no other reason than for wasting time. It would have taken many years to hear the outcome.

This scandal is only the tip of the ice berg and all occurred under New Labour's watch. Attempting to level any of it in the direction of the Tories is just plain bonkers.......even for you!

Go and rummage in the cardboard box marked, "WOT THE TORIES HAVE DONE WRONG" and look for something else to attack.

David - at my time of life, a "dinosaur" (according to Mr Slip) in the world
of porn, I am never going to be wealthy. Its a fact. Accept it, I say.
There are a lot of people poorer than me, worse off than me, will die sooner
than me. In Africa as just one colossal example, these are also facts......
So I cannot understand really what you are blathering about. It is a fact that
the support of banking institutions is vital to the major political parties in
Britain. Nothing we say on this forum will change that. It is a fact that the
City of London is either the major (we can debate this) or one of the top 3
financial institutions in the world and a huge success story for Britain. And
it is also a fact that the commissions and huge salaries they pay their
employees in the investment sector truly offends (rightly) most ordinary
folk.
We need the banks, David, we need the City to be a success. What we don`t
need is the current ethos in banking of greed and inflated bonuses
encouraged and represented by the likes of Bob Diamond.
This corporate greed started in the Thatcher years and only now are those
of us who do not work in financial services seeing how deep-rooted and vast
this greed is.

"There is a good chance that certain people in your party are knee deep in shit over this matter"

Which presumably is why Ed Miliband called for a judicial inquiry which would have far more teeth and expertise than a parliamentary one?

"The serious fraud squad is now formally involved. This is the most effective way of all to sort the banks out, in other words scare them shitless. "

There is nothing to stop having the police involved at the same time as a judicial inquiry. Look up Leveson for reference.

"I'm afraid Labours demands for a judicial enquiry were for no other reason than for wasting time. It would have taken many years to hear the outcome."

This is crap. They could have had both as stated above. Look up Leveson for reference if you havent read the point above.

"This scandal is only the tip of the ice berg and all occurred under New Labour's watch."

This is bilge. To understand a bit more rather than talking out of your arse,

1. Read Frank's post which references the Thatcher deregulation of the banks
2. Read about what went on or alternatively talk to someone who experienced this period in investment banking.
3. All the parties are complicit in the ongoing crap regulation of the banks. Hence the need for a far-ranging judicial inquiry and not just one into fiddling Libor rates.

Aye this time I think the banking sector is in for a rough ride - The serious crime squad are in and have been in for sometime now - they are working away and the evidence that they are obtaining will mean some pretty rough times ahead for those that were in positions of trust. The banking industry is due for a massive realignment - were no longer in times of wealth and expansion. The market is in recession and a lot of people have been hurt - shares and pensions in freefall.... we will get through this mess eventually but the banks will not be the same as what they were - and I believe that we may see some nationalisation within the industry - the casino banking if they want to do that then they can but they would be doing that with the run of the mill everyday banking sector. Seperation will be the name of the game. speculate to accumulate doesnt work there is only so much of the market there and that can keep expanding without limits.
Its been found out and suddenly the revenue streams will dry up. No body will want to invest in shaky environments.

I keep hearing about the banks taking about products and instruments - Has anyone actually held one in their hand has anyone actually seen a product ? This is what is wrong, we cant see those products as they exist in the bank process and platforms....