Former HBoS chief executive Sir James Crosby quits top City job after damning report into 'catastrophic failures' at bank which Also criticises former chief executives Sir James Crosby and Andy Hornby Hours after report released Bridgepoint announces Sir James has quit Ex-Labour City minister Lord Myners says Gordon Brown 'got it wrong' By Matt Chorley and James Salmon Former Halifax chief executive Sir James Crosby was accused of catastrophic failures of leadership at the bank, which was brought to the verge of collapse by reckless lending levels, the damning report said The banking boss blamed for 'setting the course for disaster' at HBoS which left the taxpayer with a £25billion bill today quit his top job advising a major private equity firm after a damning report demanded he be banned from working in the City forever. Sir James Crosby dramatically resigned from Bridgepoint, just hours after he faced criticism of his lead role in the collapse of the bank in a report by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards. The report claimed Sir James must take 'primary responsibility' for the collapse, along with former chairman Lord Stevenson and fellow chief executive Andy Hornby. Critics called for Lord Stevenson and Sir James Crosby to be stripped of their honours, after former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Fred Goodwin was relieved of his knighthood last year. More than four years since the lender had to be rescued by Lloyds and a massive government bailout, the "reckless" bankers at the top were slated by the official report into the debacle. They faced calls for a lifetime ban on working in the City after their "catastrophic failures" saddled taxpayers with a £28billion bill. The commission said in the report: 'The primary responsibility for the downfall of HBOS should rest with Sir James Crosby, architect of the strategy that set the course for disaster, with Andy Hornby, who proved unable or unwilling to change course, and Lord Stevenson, who presided over the bank's board from its birth to its death.' Sir James was chief executive of HBOS from 2001 to 2006 and is also a former deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority. He was a member of the European Advisory Board at Bridgepoint, although his salary was not made public, and is also a senior independent director of catering firm Compass where he earns £125,000. A spokesman for Bridgepoint said: 'Following a discussion with Sir James this morning he has decided to resign from the advisory board.' The Commission blamed the three men's 'toxic' misjudgments for the bank's downfall and £20.5billion taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis, and said they should not be allowed to work in the financial sector again. But Mr Hornby's current employers, Gala Coral, are standing by him. Simon Clare, a Coral spokesman, said: 'Coral as a business is performing extremely well and that coincides with Andy's tenure as chief executive. LORD STEVENSON ■ Past earnings: £815,000 at HBOS ■ £500,000 as a non-executive of Western Union ■ £35,000 on board of Economist Group ■ Undisclosed salary at venture capital ﬁrm Loudwater SIR JAMES CROSBY ■ Senior non-executive Compass: £125,000 ■ Advisory committee of Bridgepoint: undisclosed ■ Salary when chairman of Misys: £180,000 Annual pension: £572,000 ANDY HORNBY ■ Chief executive of Coral - estimated at more than £500,000 ■ Paid £2.1min ﬁrst year at Alliance Boots ■ Received £2.4m when leaving Alliance Boots £2.4m pension pot from HBOS 'He's doing a great job and we're delighted with the job he is doing. He has the complete backing of the business. Paul Moore, the former head of risk at HBoS who was sacked in 2004 shortly after he raised the alarm on its reckless lending, said: "These former bosses have been proved to be incompetent and willfully reckless, maybe even dishonest. But as the blame game escalated today, former Labour treasury minister Lord Myners took aim at Gordon Brown, claiming the former PM who gave him a job in government 'got it wrong' on opposing tougher rules in the City. Lord Myners, a former NatWest executive brought appointed City Minister by Mr Brown in 2008, praised the 'brilliant' and 'forensic' report but said politicians made a mistake in opposing stricter regulation of the industry. Lord Myners said: 'I wasn't in the government at the time, but I probably was part of a consensus that missed what was happening. 'Gordon Brown was wrong in what he said; his judgement has proven to be wrong, and I'll put my hand up and say that I was with the consensus in thinking that the City was doing probably quite a good job,' he told BBC Radio 5Live. I had been on the court of the Bank of England at that time and had been urging the Governor to look at the issues of risk and poor risk management. But I think Gordon Brown got it wrong. He added: "Consumers and the wider economy, as well as shareholders and taxpayers, have paid a heavy price for the blunders of the HBoS board. He refused to say whether he would like to see Sir James or Lord Stevenson lose their titles, saying the public were not concerned about knighthoods. 'That is not our jobs, we were not set up as a Banking Commission to strip people of their titles,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'I don't think the public are so concerned about knighthoods, what they want is reassurance that they won't get hit by this again, that people who do such damage are identified and are prevented from practising and that people should not be allowed to gamble with our money and then walk away with huge bonuses.'