Diamond’s defiance

DISGRACED former Barclays boss Bob Diamond has defended the culture at the lender when he ran it, and insisted bankers should be free to take more risks.

Diamond, 67, branded the ‘unacceptable face of banking’ for his huge pay packets, quit Barclays in 2012 after it was fined a record £290m for rigging Libor rates. In a BBC interview to mark ten years since the financial crisis, he insisted casino banking is important for the economy.

he said: ‘If they are totally without risk, banks are not helping create jobs and growth. The culture now is that if anyone makes a mistake they get fined, or the bank is in trouble.’