Paul Moore expected to release damaging documents ‘in stages’
How serious for Gordon Brown is the Independent on Sunday's scoop? The paper revealed yesterday that the HBOS whistleblower Paul Moore, whose revelations led to the resignation of Sir James Crosby from the Financial Services Authority last week, is now pointing the finger directly at the Prime Minister, saying he is responsible for the banking crisis and should resign.
Put it another way - how good a scoop was it?
"Of course it all depends exactly what these documents are that Paul Moore says he has," one senior MP told the Mole. "But it sounds as if he can blow apart two of Gordon's central claims - first that he is economically competent and second that it's all down to global pressures."
Brown's miserable few days began on Tuesday when Moore, the former head of risk at HBOS, told the Treasury Select Committee examining the banking crisis that Crosby sacked him in 2005 after he (Moore) had repeatedly tried to warn HBOS executives that the bank was growing too fast. Crosby denied the sacking was for this reason, and said that an audit by KPMG had examined Moore's claim and found it without merit. But on Wednesday morning he quit as deputy chairman of the FSA, anyway.
The IoS story, by Margareta Pagano and Jane Merrick, claims Moore now has 30 "potentially incendiary documents" he is ready to show the MPs on the committee. The Mole's understanding is that these will be released in stages, possibly starting as early as today, to the committee clerk. It will be committee chairman James McFall's decision as to whether to reopen inquiries.
Unless Moore is bluffing, then it is hard to see how McFall can avoid reopening this can of worms - even if he is a friend of the PM's.
When the Prime Minister went before the Commons Liaison Committee on Thursday he claimed said HBOS's difficulties were due to its flawed business model, not to Crosby's leadership. And as I reported here on Thursday, Brown's answers to questions about whether he knew anything about the looming crisis at HBOS (he was Chancellor at the time) were opaque to say the least.
But Moore told the IoS yesterday that he has the documents to prove that HBOS's drastic losses - now estimated at nearly £11bn - were the result of "the reckless lending culture, easy credit and failed regulation of the Brown years that led directly to the implosion of British banks".
Moore is a trained barrister. "I have compiled a meticulous record of my time at the bank," he told the IoS. "This will show that the version of events given by KPMG... is inaccurate. Key witnesses were not included in the original audit and there are many factual errors."
Meanwhile, as if Brown needed any more headaches, two opinion polls at the weekend show Labour support collapsing, with the issue of bankers' bonuses riling the public.
An IoS/ComRes poll showed Labour dropping to 25 per cent, only three points ahead of the Lib Dems on 22. The Tories are on 41 per cent - a clear 16-point margin. A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times put the Conservatives 12 points ahead of Labour, 44-32, with the Lib Dems on a less exciting 14.
If Moore's "evidence" is half as good as he's promising, David Cameron is likely to see the gap widening still further.
THE MOLE: WHISTLEBLOWER CHARGES
FIRST POSTED FEBRUARY 16, 2009
The Mole: Why Sir James Crosby had to go
The Mole: Brown faces Commons grilling by Liaison Committee
Revenge of the whistleblower: the IoS story in full
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