Bob Diamond feels the heat as MPs quiz him over libor scandal However, he did say he had decided to leave because Barclays" reputation was being tarnished and "my leadership and questions about my leadership have been part of that." He also conceded that after the weekend it became "clear to me that support from the regulators hadn't been as strong as I thought." The conversation between Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker and Mr Diamond on October 29, 2008 has become the key issue. Mr Diamond's note of the call made it appear that Mr Tucker had given the bank a "nod and a wink" to rig Libor, as Mr Tyrie put it. Mr Diamond did not see it that way. "Paul was doing a good job," he said. He was trying to tell me that there were a number of ministers in Whitehall who were worried that we were not able to fund. Barclays was about to complete a £6.7bn capital raising, rather than take taxpayer cash as RBS and Lloyds had done days earlier. Mr Diamond understood Mr Tucker's message to mean that politicians believed Barclays" high Libor rate meant it was in crisis. Fearful this view would lead to nationalisation, Mr Diamond urged then chief executive John Varley to "get to Whitehall to say we're funding adequately." It remains unclear whether "ministers" wanted Mr Tucker to contact Barclays over its Libor rate. Mr Diamond said he felt "responsible but not culpable." The 14 traders who rigged Libor between 2005 and 2007 were to blame for the "reprehensible" behaviour. He claimed he only found out about their actions last month and reading their exchanges made him "physically ill." Compliance also failed. On low-balling in 2007 and 2008, he said the orders had come from "group treasury." He did not know which "senior management at high levels" had instructed managers to lower Libor in 2007, because he was not then chief executive - effectively passing the buck to Mr Varley. Mr Diamond made it clear Barclays was not acting alone. He named "nationalised" banks - RBS and Lloyds - and Germany's West LB , suggesting they were all "posting at levels they would not have been able to borrow at, had they been able to borrow." This was one area where Mr Diamond looked like a rabbit in the headlights. He said everyone knew low-balling was happening in 2007 and 2008, even attacking the supine regulators, but claimed he never suspected Barclays. He never even thought to ask for a cursory internal probe. It was also not clear why his colleague Jerry del Missier thought that it acceptable for the central bank to ask Barclays to rig Libor. Expect a big battle. Mr Diamond was offering no charity. He said it was for the board to decide.