The former Co-op Bank chairman has apologised after a newspaper claimed he bought and used illegal drugs after appearing before a committee of MPs. A video on the Mail on Sunday website shows Paul Flowers, who is also a Methodist minister, handing over £300 in a car, apparently to buy cocaine. He was filmed by an acquaintance who said they met online.Mr Flowers said he had done things that were "stupid and wrong" and was seeking professional help.
'Difficult year'
The Mail on Sunday alleges that Mr Flowers, who left the Co-op in June this year - five months before his recent appearance at the Treasury Committee - handed over money for cocaine last weekend. Stuart Davies, who made the film, told the paper he exposed the Methodist minister because he was disgusted by his hypocrisy. In a statement released via the Methodist Church, Mr Flowers said: "This year has been incredibly difficult with a death in the family and the pressures of my role with the Co-operative Bank. "At the lowest point in this terrible period, I did things that were stupid and wrong. "I am sorry for this, and I am seeking professional help, and apologise to all I have hurt or failed by my actions." The Methodist Church said Mr Flowers, who is a minister in Bradford, has been suspended pending an investigation.....Read more here
Disgraced former Co-op bank boss Paul Flowers claimed £75,000 in false expenses from a drugs charity, it has been alleged. Mr Flowers, a former Labour councillor, totted up the claims over five years during his time as the chairman of the trustees at the Lifeline Project, according to the charity's chief executive Ian Wardle. Mr Wardle told Sky News that he had raised questions over Mr Flowers' claims in 2004 and there had been an investigation during which the former Methodist minister was asked to account for his claims item by item. Mr Flowers, 63, is under investigation by policeafter being filmed by a newspaper allegedly buying and using illegal drugs, including crystal meth, crack cocaine and ketamine - a horse tranquilliser used as a party drug. Mr Wardle said that the "total cost of clearing up the mess" left by Mr Flowers during his time at the charity, which helps people with drug and alcohol problems, was £150,000.....Read more here
A senior City regulator being grilled by a committee of MPs today defended his decision to approve the appointment of disgraced former Co-operative Bank chairman Paul Flowers. Clive Adamson, director of supervision at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), insisted he had not made a mistake - despite Mr Flowers later being engulfed in a drugs scandal and being exposed for his lack of banking knowledge. Mr Adamson said the Methodist minister seemed to be the right person to control the 'unruly' board at the bank, repeatedly insisting the decision to approve him was right based on the information at the time......Read more here
Disgraced former Co-op Bank boss Rev Paul Flowers has resumed his depraved lifestyle of drugs and rent boys, despite facing fresh scrutiny by police and City regulators. Although he promised to seek help, the Methodist minister is still using the horse tranquilliser drug ketamine and booking male prostitutes. The new revelations come two months after The Mail on Sunday first exposed the former Co-op Bank chairman apparently buying cocaine and crystal meth. He was filmed counting out banknotes, allegedly to buy the drugs. Yet as he faces new probes into his behaviour, little has changed in the sex- and drug-fuelled world of the 63-year-old Methodist minister. Flowers is due to be reinterviewed by detectives this week, as two City regulators plan separate investigations into his professional conduct at the time the Co-op Bank was brought to its knees......Read more here