British tabloid newspapers are sometimes accused of fabricating salacious stories. The Reverend Paul Flowers, who was arrested on drugs allegations on Friday, has saved them the trouble. The ex-chairman of Co-operative Bank, a latter-day Falstaff who reportedly prefers young men to wenches and crystal meth to wine, has triggered a scandal with something for everyone: sex, drugs, politics and the near collapse of a financial institution.
Exposés of naughty clergymen have been bread and butter for UK tabloid newspapers for decades. But a sting by The Mail on Sunday – which published a video of the former bank boss apparently spending £300 on cocaine and amphetamines – transcended the genre. The story has reinforced the belief that a £1.5bn capital shortfall at Co-op Bank is the result of poor management and light-touch UK financial regulation.
The furore gives a government led by upper-class Conservatives an unmissable opportunity to bash the opposition Labour party. The Co-operative Group, owner of Co-op Bank, was set up in the 19th century as a self-help organisation for workers. The mutual business, whose interests range from shopkeeping to undertaking, is intrinsic to the Labour movement.