Why are the Tories so coy about a judge-led inquiry?
July 5th, 2012Parliament was at its worst this afternoon. The mud wrestlers Osborne and Balls were so dementedly determined to lay toxic blame on each other for the shocking LIBOR scandal that the City escaped with hardly a bruise to its name. The difference between a judge-led inquiry and a special parliamentary Select Committee inquiry is not that huge, but as at Ypres those few yards of terrain were fought over with such ferocity as though the next election depended on it. But one question hung over the assembled battleground, unanswered. Why were Osborne and co. so obsessively manic about blocking a judge-led inquiry? It’s a fair guess that after Leveson tore a trail of damage through the Establishment, they were apoplectic about avoiding a repeat. After all, the City is an extremely hard-nosed institution, and it doesn’t year after year give the Tories half their entire annual income without expecting, and getting, a big deal in return. Exposing that could be quite embarrassing. (more…)
