MPs admit they let Diamond slip away ahead of inquiry vote Labour has called for a judge-led full public inquiry, which would involve a barrister questioning witnesses under oath. However, David Cameron has insisted that such a forum would take too long, arguing that the public wanted a shorter probe, which a parliamentary inquiry could deliver, with answers to the question of what went wrong provided by the end of the year. Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who has been asked by Mr Cameron to chair the probe and who is also chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has said that he would withdraw from the post unless he had cross-part support. Mr Tyrie himself told the BBC that Mr Diamond's evidence to the Treasury Select Committee was unconvincing: "I think, cumulatively, the whole package looks somewhat implausible." Andrea Leadsom, a Tory member of the Committee whose questioning was widely praised as among the most effective, told the BBC's Newsnight that he appeared to have been "briefed on how to avoid answering," and that his main tactic had been to "prevaricate." While Mr Diamond's evidence did nothing to enhance his reputation, as he repeatedly strayed off topic and at times appeared unable to understand simple questions, public relations experts said that in fact it was a masterclass in coping with a hostile grilling. The banker did not engage when MPs including Labour's John Mann became overtly abusive, and he was able to avoid tricky questions by launching into long speeches about his "love" for Barclays. He also repeatedly aired the claim that other banks were engaged in the manipulation of Libor, to the irritation of MPs who were attempting to ask him narrow questions about his own actions during the events in question. John Thurso, a Liberal Democrat MP on the Committee, complained that after three hours of Mr Diamond's testimony, less was known about events at Barclays than before the session. And a number of political commentators have since said that the Treasury Committee session was an advertisement for a judge-led inquiry.