FCA chief’s departure means it’s back to business as usual for the banks

Martin Wheatley's resignation is another victory for the increasingly bullish banks - George Osborne has capitulated again

It's job done as far as Britain's banks are concerned. The departure of Martin Wheatley as the head of the City's watchdog marks a triumph for the forex fiddlers and the Libor manipulators, but a defeat for the rest of us. The clock has been turned back eight years to the bad old days when the last Labour government ensured that what the banks demanded, the banks got.

George Osborne was, of course, full of praise for Wheatley as his resignation was announced. The outgoing head of the Financial Conduct Authority was "brilliant". He was "passionate" about defending the interests of consumers. A bit too passionate, it seems.