THE banking whistleblower whose revelations forced the resignation of a senior Government adviser has called for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to go for his part in creating the financial crisis.
Paul Moore, who was sacked after raising concerns over excessive risk-taking at HBOS, said Mr Brown should be “held accountable for his failure to oversee the stability of the country”.
Following his explosive evidence to the Commons Treasury Committee last week, Mr Moore said he is planning to send the MPs a further dossier of 30 documents which will point the finger of blame for the bust at Mr Brown.
After Mr Moore’s revelations forced the resignation of the deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority Sir James Crosby, Mr Brown told another parliamentary committee that HBOS’s massive losses – estimated at more than £10 billion – were caused not by Government policy but by the bank’s flawed business model.
But Mr Moore, who was head of risk at HBOS from 2002 to 2005, said: “The failure goes right to the heart of the system – to the internal supervisory system and right to the top of Government.
“Brown must go. He cannot remain in office. He has presided over the biggest boom in the history of the country as well as one of the biggest busts.
“But he promised no more boom and bust. He must be held accountable for his failure to oversee the stability of the country.”
Mr Moore added: “Brown presided over a policy based on excessive consumer spending based on excessive consumer credit based on massively increasing property prices, which were caused by excessively easy credit which could only ultimately lead to disaster.
“But no, in Gordon’s mind it was all caused by global events beyond his and anybody else’s control.
“Brown swaggers around holding himself out as the economic saviour of the world with a level of hubris that defies belief. But does he ever acknowledge that it was he, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, who presided functionally over the economic strategy that got us into this mess in the first place?”
Mr Moore said that he had collected a ‘meticulous record’ of his time at HBOS which will back up warnings that the bank was ‘going too fast’ and taking excessive risk thanks to a ‘sales driven culture’ led by chief executive Sir James.
Sir James has rejected Mr Moore’s claim that he sacked the head of risk as a result of his warnings.
The former HBOS chief executive – who was appointed to the board of City watchdog the FSA by Mr Brown and promoted to deputy chairman by his successor as Chancellor Alistair Darling – indicated he may go before the Treasury Committee to give his account of events.
