Rebuilding society - New fraud legislation is imperative

It is easy enough to talk about the idea of society, of collegiality, of collective responsibility, of a robust, positive national pride, even of a community-wide unity of purpose.

When this conversation continues after some too-big-to-fail buttress or other collapses the rallying cry that “we’re all in this together” is rattled out. Unfortunately it has become as untrue as it is patronising, as seditious as it is laughable. That shabby deceit has almost become The Fields of Athenry of our public conversation resonating with despair but laced through with the contempt of today’s Trevelyans for those they have defrauded.

Bob Diamond, who has resigned as chief executive of Barclays over the interest rate rigging scandal at the bank, is just the latest in a long — but not long enough — line of banking or regulatory premiership players to fall on their sword because they presided over a system that focused on profit so intently that there was no room left for scruples.