Chancellor George Osborne is to have talks with financial regulators on a possible inquiry into the troubles of the Co-operative Bank, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
Mr Cameron told the House of Commons there were “a lot of questions that have to be answered” about the appointment of former bank chairman Paul Flowers.
West Yorkshire Police have searched the home of Mr Flowers, a Methodist minister who led the bank for three years, after he was filmed allegedly buying and using illegal drugs including crystal meth, crack cocaine and ketamine.
Co-operative Group chairman Len Wardle has already quit amid the deepening scandal, which came after the ailing bank had to be bailed out by hedge funds after getting into financial difficulties.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Cameron said: “The Chancellor will be discussing with the regulators what is the appropriate form of inquiry to get to the bottom of what went wrong here.
“I think it will be important in the coming days that, if anyone does have information, they stand up and provide it to the authorities.”