Sir Mervyn has indicated what to expect from the Bank in future Lord Turner would have been forgiven a tiny smirk when Tyrie looked over his spectacles at Tucker towards the end of his testimony and said: "It doesn't look good, I have to tell you." Sir Mervyn appears next week before the same committee safe in the knowledge he's achieved his heart's desire of getting rid of Diamond without the inconvenience of due process. It should have been Lord Turner's FSA, as Diamond's regulator, demanding Diamond's exit, not the Governor of the Bank of England, which has a clear remit when it comes to lenders but not this. The fact Sir Mervyn insisted on loading the gun for Diamond's summary execution says everything about the personal and political nature of this episode and is a clear sign of things to come when the Bank's new powers do actually come to pass in 2013. M&S investors have reason to complain Was this Marc Bolland's final roll of the dice? It felt like it. Very poor first quarter trading figures were combined with a less than convincing management change. The fact that M&S, the country's largest clothing retailer, can't find a clothing retailer to run its clothes shops is an indictment. John Dixon, most recently a food retailer at M&S, is now running clothing. The food result wasn't a disaster but up 0.6pc like-for-like was not a Sainsbury's or Waitrose performance. Shareholders can afford to feel peeved at M&S's communication of Kate Bostock's departure. It has been widely predicted since November at least, more so recently, but no confirmation came until today's annual meeting. That's no way to treat the company's owners. If not misleading, it's an insult to their intelligence and that's saying something. If you put their ride in context, it's nothing short of disastrous. A decade ago the share price was exactly where it is now. Eight years ago it had the fillip of a takeover bid (failed) but since then the shares have continued sideways, or down, save for a brief two years between 2005-2007. In 2005 the company's market value was £10bn, it's now £5bn, a sum equivalent to the company's expenditure on share buy-backs and store refits. If those refits, and long overdue online initiatives, don't start to bear fruit by this time next year, then shareholders will be forgiven for losing patience. Bolland arrived at M&S in a very tough trading environment and recent bad weather has not helped. But that's the same for everyone. He has not made his mark and top executives are leaving while the quality of the incoming talent is debatable. Next, now worth more than M&S, Debenhams and ASOS are all performing better. Bolland may feel rearranging top management buys him some time, allowing him to claim at future results that the team are still bedding in and yet to show results. But this is becoming the M&S pattern. Too many excuses prepared ahead of the mistakes.