Parliamentary questions have been asked about the wisdom of HM Treasury's appointment of Andrew Bailey, the head of the UK's Financial Services Authority, to the Governorship of the Bank of England. Debate hinged on criticism of the regulator's conduct of the Woodford affair.

Sajid Javid, the Chancellor of the Exchequer who, by no coincidence at all, has a cat called Bailey, began a debate last week by saying that since the general election he had appointed "an excellent new Governor of the Bank of England." John McDonnell (Lab, Hayes and Harlington), the shadow Chancellor, demurred.

"During Mr Bailey’s tenure as chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, we saw the scandals of London Capital & Finance and the Woodford Equity Fund and the continuing saga of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Global Restructuring Group. In all those scandals, many people were hit extremely hard. May I ask the Chancellor: did he consult any of the victims of these scandals before he appointed Mr Bailey?

Javid's reply was evasive: "Mr Bailey was an outstanding candidate — the stand-out candidate to be the next Governor of the Bank of England. That is one of the most important public sector jobs that our country has to offer, and it is hugely important that it goes to a rightly qualified person. Any reasonable person who looks at Mr Bailey’s track record of outstanding public service will see that he is eminently qualified."

Asleep at the wheel?

McDonnell was not satisfied: "You will note, Mr Speaker, that I asked whether the Chancellor had consulted any of the victims of these scandals, and no response was received. Clearly, he did not. I referred to the Woodford Group, and in the filings lodged today at Companies House, it is reported that £13.8 million of dividends were received by Mr Ian [actually Neil] Woodford and his chief executive in the 12 months leading up to the crisis that engulfed Woodford Investment Management and affected so many investors deleteriously.

"That adds to concerns already expressed by others that Mr Bailey was asleep at the wheel during his period of office at the FCA...May I suggest to the Chancellor that it would be appropriate to postpone Mr Bailey’s installation in office until an independent inquiry into those failures of financial regulation had taken place?"

Javid did not reply, preferring to adhere to a set form of words: "The ongoing inquiry is, rightly, being led independently. It is not a matter for ministers and neither should it be. We...will let the inquiry take its course independently."

The much-viewed YouTube clip of this exchange has been removed.