151 words
12 January 2011
The Sun , Page: 10
© 2011 Times Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved

ARROGANT Barclays boss Bob Diamond yesterday provoked uproar from MPs by refusing to thank British taxpayers for bailing out failing banks.

He insisted banks "needed to be able to take risks" and the "blame game" over the financial crisis "should be put behind us".

The super-rich banker also told a Commons committee that RBS and Lloyds "should be allowed to fail". In a heated exchange with Tory MP David Ruffley, Mr Diamond refused to acknowledge Barclays - which did not take government cash - had benefited from the UK bank bailouts.

Mr Ruffley asked: "Are you grateful to the British taxpayer for subsidising you in this way?" Mr Diamond, pictured above yesterday, would only say he was "grateful" to central banks and regulators. When asked if he was "part of the problem", he said: "No". He also refused to say what bonus he could trouser this year.