Former top Barclays man slams 'attack' on Diamond

Former deputy chairman Sir Nigel Rudd told the Sunday Times that the Treasury select committee hadn't backed up its claims that Mr Diamond had misled it.

The committee reckoned that he had been "highly selective" in his evidence to them over the bank's manipulation of the inter-bank Libor interest rate, for which it was fined £290m by US and British regulators.

Mr Rudd, who spent 13 years on the Barclays board and is now chairman of airport privateer BAA, said: "It is one thing to attack a man's judgement or his decisions. It is quite another to attack his integrity.

"I don't believe there is any evidence that he misled parliament."

Mr Diamond has already hit back, saying he was disappointed and strongly disagreed with several of the committee's statements.

"I answered every question that was put to me to me truthfully, candidly and based on information available to me," he said.

"I categorically refute any suggestion to the contrary."

A number of other banks are being quizzed in the US over their alleged involvement in the scam.

At Barclays Mr Diamond, chairman Marcus Agius and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier all took the long walk.