Banker, caught red-handed, flounces off in teenage strop

Further proof, if you needed it, that the banking industry is still having problems accepting responsibility for the consequences of its own actions. After his bank was fined for foreign exchange rigging and sundry other wrongdoing, John McFarlane, the chairman of Barclay's Bank, said "sorry" and promised to stop running his bank like a criminal enterprise in future sacked a load of underlings, then complained "Now look what you made me do! That's so unfair!!!" before storming off to his bedroom, muttering " I hate you!" and slamming the door. Well, that's the gist of his argument - here are his exact words:

“When conduct charges consume our profits, as they have for the past three years, we have no choice but to meet them by shrinking our franchise – selling or closing businesses – which reduces our capacity to support the real economy,” [McFarlane] said.

“A £50m fine or penalty is the equivalent of closing 100 small regional branches, or foregoing the capacity to lend over £500m to small businesses or consumers. The societal costs of excessive penalties is [sic] very real. The charges are not proportionate to our smaller size and ability to pay relative to many of our peers.”

John McFarlane is 68 years old.

Imagine what it would be like if all grown ups who got caught red-handed behaved like that. Say Joe Bloggs, aged 68, got fined for dropping litter:

“When a fine for littering consumes my pension, I have no choice but to meet it by shrinking my household budget, which reduces my capacity to support the real economy,” Bloggs said.

"A £100 fine is the equivalent of foregoing 10 buffet lunches at the Taj Mahal Indian restaurant, 15 matinee performances at the Nuneaton Odeon, or the purchase of nearly 100 bags of Werther's Originals, which will result in an inevitable knock-on effect on local businesses. The societal costs of excessive penalties is very real. The charges are not proportionate to my retirement income and ability to pay relative to many of my peers.”