Hereford MP Jesse Norman hits back at The Guardian (From Hereford Times)

Hereford MP Jesse Norman hits back at The Guardian

10:11am Monday 9th July 2012 in Hereford City By Mark Bowen

HEREFORD MP Jesse Norman has hit back at a national newspaper that was critical of his performance when questioning Barclays former boss Bob Diamond.

The Guardian gave Jesse Norman four out of 10 for his performance at the Treasury Select Committee, the joint lowest mark given to the backbench MPs who grilled Mr Diamond over his former bank's involvement in the rate fixing scandal.

"Diamond chummily made much of the fact that Norman was a former Barclays insider," The Guardian wrote.

"And Norman went off on a long and winding digression about Bob's long record in financial markets."

But Mr Norman responded by saying: "Unfortunately the Guardian journalists don't seem to have understood what was actually going on in the hearing.

"As a committee we try to work broadly to a brief, to ensure the questioning is properly targeted and covers all the relevant areas."

He added that his question were designed to set up the later discussion.