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divdiv class=story-body readability=54 span class=story-date#13; span class=date20 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time10:48 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryB readability=1#13; div id=emp-25020670-106322 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71232000/jpg/_71232348_71232346.jpg alt=David Cameron/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionDavid Cameron says there are a lot of questions to be answered about the Co-Op Bank and the role of Paul Flowers/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1Chancellor George Osborne is to order an independent inquiry into how Paul Flowers was deemed a suitable chairman of the Co-op Bank. /p#13; pThe inquiry is also expected to examine whether the bank's recent leadership crisis has had any financial impact on its customers./p#13; pIts exact terms of reference and the name of its chair are likely to be formally announced in coming days. /p#13; pMr Flowers, 63, apologised after he was filmed allegedly buying drugs./p#13; pHe had stepped down as chairman of Co-op Bank and as deputy chairman of Co-op Group in June. /p#13; pIt has also emerged that he was found to have had inappropriate adult images on his computer in 2011 while he was a Labour councillor in Bradford./p#13; span class=cross-head'Alarm bells'/span#13; pThe inquiry into the Co-op is to be ordered by the chancellor and arranged by the Prudential Regulation Authority, under powers Mr Osborne obtained in the 2012 Financial Services Act, the BBC's a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25021112Robert Peston has reported/a. /p#13; pThis would be a long and detailed investigation by an independent expert into events at the Co-op Bank, he said. /p#13; p id=story_continues_2But this cannot begin until the police have concluded their investigation into the allegations that Mr Flowers, a Methodist minister, bought and used illegal drugs, including cocaine, our correspondent added. /p#13; pWest Yorkshire Police officers searched Mr Flowers' Bradford home on Tuesday./p#13; pThe Financial Conduct Authority is also thinking about launching another, separate investigation, into whether the bank broke City rules, our correspondent said - which also would need to be completed before the independent investigation could start. /p#13; pIf you put all this together, it means that this bank, which is in the throes of trying to save itself, will be under a cloud of investigation for months - it could be years, he concluded. /p#13; pThe former Bradford councillor, who has been suspended from both his church and the Labour Party, said he had been wrong and stupid./p#13; pEarlier in the Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron said Labour knew about his past before the drugs and porn claims emerged./p#13; p id=story_continues_3Mr Cameron had been asked by Tory MP Steve Brine at PM's questions about the nightmare unfolding at the bank and the sense of disbelief that Mr Flowers was appointed to his role in the first place./p#13; pMr Cameron said the government's first priority was to safeguard the Co-op Bank and ensure its customers and bondholders were protected, but the prime minister went on to question Mr Flowers' suitability for the role and his links with Labour. /p#13; pWhy was Reverend Flowers judged suitable to be chairman of a bank? Why weren't alarm bells rung earlier, particularly by those who knew? he said. /p#13; pBut opposition leader Ed Miliband questioned the Conservatives' own ethics, claiming they took money from tax exiles. /p#13; pMr Miliband hit back with a series of jibes about the people David Cameron associated with./p#13; pHe accused the Conservatives of taking £5m from a City firm found whose traders subsequently rigged interest rates. He said the Tories had taken millions from tax exiles and had not returned donations made in he 1990s by Asil Nadir, subsequently convicted in 2012 of fraud./p#13; p id=story_continues_4Mr Miliband quoted an ally of Mr Cameron, Planning Minister Nick Boles, who recently argued that potential Conservative voters don't trust our motives and said: The single biggest problem facing the Conservative Party is being seen as the party of the rich./p#13; pMr Boles was really saying [that] this prime minister is a loser, the Labour leader concluded. /p#13; pSince Mr Flowers resigned as its chair, the Methodist preacher and adviser to Mr Miliband on business has been filmed appearing to try to buy cocaine - allegations currently being investigated by the police. /p#13; pEarlier the PM in the Commons had indicated only that the chancellor would be discussing with the regulator what is the appropriate form of inquiry without making definitively clear whether one would be held./p#13; pThe Co-op Group, a major donor to Labour, is investigating the leadership of its bank subsidiary prior to its near-collapse earlier this year./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center