Co-op Group chair quits over Paul Flowers drugs claims

The chairman of the Co-op Group has resigned, saying "serious questions" were raised by the scandal over its former banking chairman, Paul Flowers.

Mr Flowers apologised after he was filmed allegedly buying drugs, while the Co-op has said it is investigating.
Questions have also been raised about Mr Flowers' competence in the role, which he was appointed to in 2010.
Len Wardle, who led the board who appointed Mr Flowers, said he felt it was "right" that he stepped down now.
Meanwhile David Anderson, the former chief executive of the Co-op Bank, is due to appear before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, where he will give evidence about the troubled bank and its takeover of the Britannia Building Society.
'Real change' The company said Mr Wardle had resigned as chairman and from the board "with immediate effect". He had held the position since 2007 but announced last month that he would leave in May 2014.

 MPs question David Anderson, the former chief executive of Co-operative Financial Service"The recent revelations about the behaviour of Paul Flowers, the former chair of the Co-operative Bank, have raised a number of serious questions for both the bank and the group," Mr Wardle said in a statement"I led the board that appointed Paul Flowers to lead the bank board and under those circumstances I feel that it is right that I step down now, ahead of my planned retirement in May next year."I have already made it clear that I believe the time is right for real change in our operations and our governance, and the board recently started a detailed review of our democracy."I hope that the group now takes the chance to put in place a new democratic structure so we can modernise in the interests of all our members."

Mr Wardle will be replaced by Ursula Lidbetter, who is the Co-op Group's deputy chairwoman and chief executive of the Lincolnshire Co-operative Society.

Paul Flowers chaired the bank from June 2010 to April this year

Mr Flowers, who was chairman of the bank from April 2010 until June this year, was filmed allegedly ordering cocaine and boasting about his use of other banned substances in a video published by the Mail on Sunday.
The Methodist minister and former Bradford City councillor has apologised for the actions he described as "stupid" and "wrong". He has been suspended from both the Labour Party and his church.
The Co-op Group had said it would launch a "fact-finding process to look into any inappropriate behaviour", as well as a review of its "democratic structure".
'Lamentable' performance The scandal has also prompted pressure on City regulators to introduce tougher checks on candidates for senior banking roles.
Conservative MP Brooks Newmark said Mr Flowers had not been competent in the job and questioned how he could have been appointed.
"Clearly he was not fit to be in that position and while obviously his performance was lamentable, I also think unfortunately that the regulators should be held to account on this," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"They should have done their due diligence to see whether Mr Flowers was fit and proper to run a major financial institution."
Former director general of the CBI, Lord Digby Jones, told Today: "The problem you have got if you bring in more regulation is will it serve its purpose?
"To do more background checks, excellent. To ensure that you get the best, not necessarily British [bankers, and to] ensure that banking can be a force for good in the country - if that calls for more rigorous implementation of the rules that you have then I'm up for that."
He said he thought the industry had "moved on" from 2008 when there was an element of "jobs for the boys", and that Mr Flowers would probably not be appointed now.
'No grasp' Mr Flowers appeared before a committee of MPs earlier this month, during which he appeared to have "no grasp" of "basic" facts about the bank, said BBC business editor Robert Peston.
He said Mr Flowers had never worked in the banking sector in "any senior capacity", but had been appointed chairman of the Co-op Bank as a result of a "power struggle within the co-operative movement".

Mr Flowers appeared before the Treasury Select Committee earlier this month

Our correspondent said Mr Flowers' rivals in the movement had been "surprised and disappointed" when the now-defunct Financial Services Authority (FSA) had approved his appointment.
The Financial Conduct Authority, which has taken on some of the FSA's former responsibilities, said Mr Flowers "underwent the appropriate interview process when originally coming on to the Co-op board [in 2009]".
The BBC understands he faced a less rigorous interview when he became chairman, because at the time regulators did not see the posts of non-executive director and chairman as significantly different - though that has since changed.
David Jackman, head of ethics at the FSA until 2003, has said it was "very disturbing" that Mr Flowers had made it through the vetting procedure.
Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee and headed up the recent banking standards commission, has said MPs could see Mr Flowers was "manifestly unsuitable" for the job when he appeared before the committee on 6 November.
The Mail on Sunday said he was filmed buying the drugs days after being grilled by the MPs.

source-  http://www.bbc.co.uk