Throw bankers in jail - not the House of Lords: Barclays once again show the law is unfair

If there’s anything that unites most Britons, it’s a strong belief in fairness.

Of course, the way we might first define this word varies significantly depending on our personal political leanings.

Those on the left tend to focus on the importance of sharing, while those on the right concentrate on work and effort being rewarded accordingly.

But the one element of fairness that most of us have in common is a belief that the law should be applied equally, regardless of race, gender or indeed wealth.

It therefore rightly appals a wide spectrum of people – Conservative, UKIP, Labour, LibDem and Green voters alike – to see fraudulent bankers forever dodging jail.

Yesterday, it emerged that rogue traders at Barclays, a bank founded by fair-dealing Quakers, had escaped criminal punishment and were granted anonymity after manipulating exchange rates to boost their bonuses and defraud clients.

Instead, just like when it was found to have rigged Libor rates three years earlier, the bank was fined – this time a whopping £1.53billion.

RBS, which is part-owned by the taxpayer, was also ordered to pay American and British authorities £430million

These are, of course, eye-watering sums, even for these juggernauts of corporate power.

But, just because firms have the ability to fork out such large amounts of money, does not mean that those who break the law should not face the threat of prison like everyone else.

Yet, unlike the 1,306 benefit cheats who have quite rightly been jailed over a four-year period, not one British banker has been put behind bars since the crash.

Indeed, more City bosses have been given a seat in the House of Lords than thrown in jail since 2008.

Financiers who were recently appointed as members of this unelected chamber
include Lord Borwick, Lord Fink and Lord Green to name just three.

In fact, a 2012 study by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that 16% of active peers had links to the City.

An even larger proportion sit on important committees, such as one that gave the green light to tax breaks on offshore businesses in the 2011 Finance Act.

Of course, this kind of access, perhaps the most obvious sign of untrammelled corporate power, cannot be reined in overnight.

But things can change if we focus on one thing at a time – and a good start would be demanding equality before the law to end the grotesque spectacle of fraudulent financiers getting off scot free and our government accepting cash instead of demanding real justice.

However much you believe in jail’s effectively as a deterrent, it is surely possible for most people to agree that not having this threat hanging over reckless bankers’ heads is a clearly a recipe to repeat the disaster that most of us are still suffering from.

So it is vital that we shout with a single voice and say: The rules that apply to us, should apply to everyone.

That is supposed to be the basis of British law. We must insist that this principle – rooted in a shared sense of fairness – is fully respected.