Left-wing MP Diane Abbott has launched a fierce Westminster attack on PricewaterhouseCoopers over its auditing of Northern Rock.

The Hackney North and Stoke Newington Labour backbencher has put down an Early Day Motion on the House of Commons Order Paper - Parliament's daily agenda sent to all MPs, Ministers and senior civil servants. The Motion is entitled 'Accountants, audit and conflict of interest'.

In the motion Abbott runs highlights the £1.3m PwC earned for non-audit work, which was more than the £500,000 it was paid for audit. She criticises the firm for failing to 'indicate any problem with Northern Rock's business model'.

'If an accountancy firm is making more money from consulting than from auditing… then there is a clear conflict of interest,' Abbott says

She adds: 'This is not the first time that the audit of a financial institution has given no hint of systemic financial problems.'

Abbott is pushing government to end 'this long-standing conflict of interest issue in order that the public may have confidence in the audit process'.

Further reading:
NAO to probe state's Rock rescue
Lib Dems want audit of Rock's loan book