Where discredit is due
THE dust starts to settle over House of Fraser, and leaves the spectators in two camps — three if you count Nicholas Ridley. The first and larger camp believes that somebody ought to be summonsed, and complains that the fibbing Fayeds have got away with a rebuke. The other camp asks why a fib should matter between friends or ex-friends, and what is all the fuss about? If Mr Ridley does not mind, I think I shall join him. He said, if you recall, that anyone who reads the report could decide for themselves about the conduct of those concerned. So they can anyone from the Queen and the Governor of the Bank of England to the Fayeds' creditors and customers and advisers and bankers, to all of those who spoke and acted for the Fayeds and now find their own words and actions devalued, and to all who were deceived. Here is a company which (together with its subsidiaries) is shown in the inspectors' report as having bank borrowings of £870 million and pro- fits which do not suffice to pay the interest. The owners of that business have now been discredited. That punishment could be both severe and apposite. Wait and see.
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