On the money with Gavin Hinks

With the government’s massive bail out of banks and the markets looking like they’ve bought into Gordon Brown’s solution, it provides a breather, time to point the finger and to demand change. And some of that flak is heading your way.

course, anyone could have told you this, no self respecting accountant could imagine anything different.

But last week, as Brown’s plan was discussed in the House, the targeting of the profession began somewhat in earnest.

Michael Meacher, a former government minister, was first protesting at ‘dodgy auditing’. He is already on record as having written to the prime minister calling for a Committee of Inquiry to look into ‘governance, accounting and auditing of the banks’.

Then came Harry Cohen, a CIPFA member, similarly calling for action, and tabling a motion that some form of improvement in the accounting and auditing needed to go alongside the rescue package.

There used to be a time when Austin Mitchell would get all polemical over this sort of thing, but Meacher and Cohen are today’s advance guard calling for change.

Once again accounting is a matter for politics. Just as the fair value standard has become a cause for comment for everyone from Brown to Nicholas Sarkozy, you couldn’t say right now that audit won’t be too.

Politicians live and breathe this kind of thing and they can smell blood. The banks are smarting from having to be rescued and they sense that now is the time for a left wing agenda to capitalise and move power back to the state.

Expect to hear more from these voices.

Gavin Hinks is the editor of Accountancy Age